Leighton is a town in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Florence - Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Statistical Area known as "The Shoals". At the 2000 census the population was 849. Leighton has been hit by several tornadoes in the 2000s including a damaging EF2 on May 8, 2008 that was caught on tape flipping over many cars and damaging buildings.