Funnel clouds have been captured forming on camera as summer thunder storms swept through Somerset on Wednesday (June 17th).
Ant Beckingham took this photo of a funnel cloud forming in the dark skies over Cheddar on Wednesday afternoon. Funnel clouds are the precursors to tornadoes if they develop and hit the ground.
While Burnham-On-Sea had a few rumbles of thunder and passing showers, the area escaped the most severe conditions although the Met Office’s yellow warning for thunderstorms and heavy rain is also in place today (Thursday).
Flash flooding was reported in Nailsea with videos on social media showing a drain overflowing into a street flooded with rain water.
A funnel cloud is a funnel-shaped cloud of condensed water droplets, associated with a rotating column of wind and extending from the base of a cloud but not reaching the ground or a water surface.
Funnel clouds form most frequently in association with supercell thunderstorms and are the precursor to tornadoes. When funnel clouds grow in strength and touch the ground they are then classed as tornadoes.
