Moment ‘tornado’ swirls over West Yorkshire skies

A "tornado" was filmed swirling through West Yorkshire skies on Monday evening (21 July). Footage posted on social media in Marsden, near Huddersfield, showed a narrow tunnel of clouds stretching up towards the sky. A tornado is a rapidly rotating column of air that reaches between the base of a storm cloud and the Earth's surface; they form as part of severe thunderstorms. A spokesperson for the Met Office told the Yorkshire Post: “It certainly looks like it could be a tornado but without seeing it touch the ground it isn't possible to confirm it isn't a funnel cloud. It is only a tornado if it touches the ground.” The Independent has reached out to the Met Office.