A funnel cloud was spotted hovering above the skies of Darlington on Friday, with Twitter users rushing to the social media platform to share their footage of the supposed ‘twister’.
In clips and images posted online, a sharp downwards cone can be seen coming from a dark grey storm cloud, but it does not touch the Earth’s surface – the one thing which would officially make it a tornado.
Instead, it is actually a funnel cloud, with the Met Office saying on its website that “at the point [a funnel cloud] 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 they are strong enough to cause any significant damage.
The cloud came as northern England faced showers on Friday morning, with the Met Office saying that one of these caused the funnel cloud to spawn in Darlington - which briefliny trended on Twitter
The scenes have prompted mixed reactions from people online, who either described the funnel cloud as “amazing” or “worrying”:
#funnelcloud #tornado in Darlington #darlington pic.twitter.com/YtKbF45rN1
— Dean Ball (@darloterrier) July 9, 2021
Absolutely mad that there’s literally been a tornado in Darlington today! Video Credit to my brother. @BBCNEandCumbria @bbcweather @itvtynetees pic.twitter.com/Okz65Umhdb
— Al Blakey (@AlanBlakey) July 9, 2021
Darlington tornado? @SkyNewsBreak @BBCBreaking @itvnews #tornadowatch pic.twitter.com/4gEwUbNn6n
— Paul Devine (@CarrotorStick) July 9, 2021
So we have a tornado in Darlington??? pic.twitter.com/vbgilkyLd9
— ✯ Kittie ✯ (@KittieHill) July 9, 2021
Might have to put the helicopter away...
— Great North Air Ambulance (@GNairambulance) July 9, 2021
Our colleague Megan has just spotted this over Darlington 🌪️🌪️🌪️ pic.twitter.com/1XieqVvmqT
While one individual definitely did see a twister:
Some footage of the twister in Darlington 🌪️ pic.twitter.com/Cr4i5HxOaJ
— Wriggy (@Wriggy) July 9, 2021
Just maybe not that kind of twister…
