Watch as travellers face tense moments as tornadoes approach O'Hare International Airport in Chicago

According to the National Weather Service, a large tornado was reported on the ground of both O’Hare Interational Airport and Midway Airport as another tornado was also spotted in Crestwood.

A tornado warning was issued until 10pm for the entirety of the city of Chicago and Cook County. This followed tornado warnings throughout other Illinois counties as the storm moved eastward into Northwest Indiana afterward, prompting tornado warnings in counties there for over an hour.

The agency said at about 9.40pm local time: "We are seeing power flashes on both the O'Hare and Midway Airport webcams due to likely tornadoes and/or destructive wind gusts near those areas. Continue to take these warnings seriously!!"

NationalWorld Editor in Chief North, Nicola Adam, who was returning home to the UK from Chicago, described the situation as "scary" and highlighted the severity by saying that even the control tower had to be evacuated.

Ms Adam, who was waiting at the gate when the storms approached, said: “It was an incredible if scary situation and was handled superbly by O’Hare airport staff from the moment the alerts went off on all our phones.

“Even waiting pilots and air staff said they had never experienced anything like it before - even the control tower was evacuated and you could hear the tornado clouds groaning in the distance. Many thanks also to British Airways staff for getting us home safely after a very long shift for them.”

According to Fox News, total of 16 Tornado Warnings were issued by the Chicago NWS office Monday – the third most issued in a single day. It was also the most since April 20, 2004, when 19 warnings were issued.