Three-meter E region irregularities observed by a portable 50-MHz radar on the island of Guadeloupe in June 1977 are shown to have the same properties as 3-m irregularities generated by the gradient drift instability at the equator and in the auroral zones. The irregularities occur when intense sporadic E patches are know to occur, suggesting that they are generated by the gradient drift instability acting on the large vertical gradients in sporadic E patches. Large, rapid E region drift variations observed on two occasions suggest either that the E region electric fields are structured and less than 450 km in horizontal extent, or that E and F region fields couple and decouple intermittently during ionospheric sunset.