Sunday, June 14, 2026 - The Three Lions arrived in the city on Saturday morning and held their first training session at the Swope Soccer Village. But on the evening of their first night at the new base, everyone in the local area, including the entire England camp, received an emergency phone alert as multiple lightning strikes, loud thunder, torrential rain, and gale-force winds battered the city on the Kansas-Missouri border.
The notification read: "Critical. Imminent Threat
Alert.
"National Weather Service: SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
in effect for this area until 9:00 PM CDT for DESTRUCTIVE 80 mph winds. Take
shelter in a sturdy building, away from windows. Flying debris may be deadly to
those caught without shelter. For your protection, move to an interior room on
the lowest floor of a building. A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 1100 PM
CDT for northeastern and east central Kansas…and west central Missouri."
England followed the advice and stayed inside. The team is
training at the Sporting KC headquarters, located seven miles northwest of
their World Cup team hotel. The squad is staying at The Inn at Meadowbrook, an
English-style cottage resort south of the city.
Just hours earlier, the team had arrived at their training
base to clear blue skies and bright, hot sunshine. They trained in front of
around 300 local spectators, with the only concern being whether captain Harry
Kane and his teammates had applied enough sunscreen.
But by 8 pm, conditions had changed dramatically, with a
raging storm that locals described as one of the worst in the past year. A
siren could be heard in the city centre, warning anyone outside to seek
shelter.
SunSport revealed in May that the England squad would be
given tornado drills amid fears of twisters in an area known as "tornado
alley." A hotel staff member said: "If the siren goes off we advise
guests to shelter in their bathroom away from windows."
An FA source said: "While a twister is unlikely, and
the chances of a direct hit even more remote, things have to be put in place.
The security team have spoken to the hotel and know the drills, and this advice
will be passed on to the players and team staff."
The alert came four days after England's friendly against
Costa Rica was delayed by an hour due to a massive thunderstorm. The incident
capped off a chaotic 24 hours, which also saw the team's boots and training
equipment stolen and later recovered, while their team chef was barred from
boarding a train for carrying kitchen knives.
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