World
Incredible moment ‘twister’ spotted over Scotland in rare weather phenomenon
THIS is the incredible moment a huge ‘twister’ was spotted near a Scottish loch.
Yesterday, Nessie hunter Steve Feltham turned his camera skyward and captured the weather phenomenon.
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Instead of catching a glimpse of a monster of the deep after three decades of searching, he managed to come across the rare ‘twister’.
What’s known as a ‘funnel cloud’ emerged from a dark area lurking above Meall Fuar-mhonaidh, a hill overlooking the loch at Drumnadrochit in Inverness-shire.
For several minutes, Steve, 61, filmed the mini-tornado as it appeared to reach down to the summit.
A few minutes later, and with no visible damage caused, it began to retreat upwards into the cloud that had spawned it.
Steve said: “I have been on the beach here for 33 years and I’ve never seen anything like it.
“It’s been a calm afternoon. From where I am in my caravan, I can see 23 miles right down the loch.
“It just caught my attention and I grabbed my camera and started filming it. I got lucky, I guess.
“It’s obviously not the kind of natural phenomenon I want to capture but it shows I’ll be ready should anything happen on the water.”
Most read in The Scottish Sun
The Highland region is at the centre of a severe weather warning tonight when heavy rain is expected to fall over a 26-hour period.
Another funnel cloud was spotted yesterday afternoon at Oldmeldrum in Aberdeenshire and there were reports of another in Yorkshire.
Funnel clouds are also known as ‘tuba’ which extend from the base of a cloud but they do not reach the ground.
When they do reach the ground, they are then known as a tornado.
They are formed in the same way as a tornado, and are typically associated with the formation of cumulonimbus clouds.
Last year, incredible footage captured the moment a waterspout swirled from the Firth of Clyde near a Scots island.
The clip, captured off the coast of the Isle of Arran, shows the column of cloud-filled wind whipping up spray towards shocked eyewitness Gavin McCrae.
According to National Geographic, waterspouts are similar to tornadoes but are usually smaller and less intense.
What weather is associated with funnel clouds?
Cumulonimbus clouds are almost always the host cloud from which tuba form, meaning that heavy rain, hail, thunder and lightning can all be expected.
If a funnel cloud does make contact with the ground and produce a tornado, very strong winds can be expected in the immediate vicinity of the vortex potentially causing severe damage.
Crucially, 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 each year, though it is very rare that are they strong enough to cause any significant damage.
Source: The Met Office
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