‘MINI-TORNADO’SPOTTED
A “MINI tornado” has been spotted forming off the North Wales coast leaving onlookers fascinated.
Witnesses spotted clouds that resembled a “mini-tornado” on Anglesey on Thursday.
Vivienne Plank captured the funnel cloud forming over the sea in Rhoscefnhir in the distance before it started slowly unwinding and dispersing.
Another witness, Hanna Elin Baguley, filmed the unusual event on Thursday afternoon.
The region has been hit by unpredictable weather over the past week, including hailstones and snow. Eyewitnesses thought they were about to add tornadoes to that list, but meteorologists have suggested it it likely to be the closely related funnel cloud phenomenon.
A funnel cloud is a cone-shaped cloud that extends from the base of a cloud towards the ground without actually reaching the surface.
Heavy rain, hail, thunder and lightning can all be expected in the presence of a funnel cloud.
When the cloud’s “tails” do reach the ground, they become a tornado, or if it reaches a body of water it becomes a waterspout.
Vivienne was amazed by what she saw and shared pictures she had captured online.
In a post on the ‘Images of Anglesey’ Facebook page, she said: “Slowly unwinding and dispersing after 10mins, the ‘mini tornado’ was very, very cool.”
Pictures taken by Jane showed a huge tunnel stretching down from the clouds towards the water’s surface.
The Met Office says that the difference between a funnel cloud and a tornado is that “a funnel cloud does not reach the earth’s surface.
“At the point it reaches land it becomes a tornado, or if it reaches a body of water it becomes a waterspout.
“In a typical year, the UK sees around 30-35 tornadoes, though it is very rare that are they strong enough to cause any significant damage.
“A rotating column of wind draws in cloud droplets, making a region of intense low pressure visible.
“They are formed in the same way as a tornado building around this localised area of intensely low pressure and are typically associated with the formation of cumulonimbus thunderclouds.”