Animal Farm; A gale in November, England. Could it blow down a windmill?

Question

My summer reading for Animal Farm has the question, "What do you think happened to the windmill?" The windmill was 18 inches thick. The book describes a gale so violent that the farm building rocked on their foundations and several tiles were blown off the roof of the barn. The hens woke up simultaneously at the sound of a gunshot in a distance. Could that noise have been the 18 inch thick windmill crashing down?

Would it be wrong to think a tornado came into the picture due to the fact that it is November in England?

Answer 1

I don't think there are tornadoes in England, I have experienced gales in the British Isles and they can certainly "take out" significant structures.  Maybe the sound was the windmill snapping?