When a reader took the above picture, they wondered if they had seen a tornado near Bristol.
Tim Blackman spotted the large white plume near the M48, towards the direction of Thornbury.
We were intrigued at Bristol Live and showed the image to the Met Office, to see what they thought about it.
And a spokesperson for the forecaster confirmed, we weren't looking at a hurricane, but a funnel cloud.
The expert said it wasn't a tornado because he couldn't see any contact with the ground.
What is a funnel cloud?
According to the Met Office, funnel clouds or 'tuba' are extending, spinning fingers of cloud that reach towards the ground, but never touch it. When they do reach the ground they become a tornado.
A funnel cloud is a cone-shaped cloud which extends from the base of a cloud towards the ground without actually reaching the surface.
In the UK they often look like thin dangling bits of rope, hanging from the cloud above. But in hotspots such as tornado alley in the USA, funnel clouds can sometimes be thicker and much more intense.
How do they form?
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.
What is the difference between a funnel cloud and a tornado?
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.
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