Expert dismisses 'tornado' claim

Funnel clouds are often mistakenly thought to be tornados

Reports of a tornado in Suffolk have been played down by a weather expert.

The BBC was contacted by Nigel Spencer from Rutland who claims he saw the tornado while he was driving on the A14 between Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge.

What he saw was "jet black and very thick". He watched it touch the ground before going back up into the sky.

But forecaster Emma Coombs, from Weatherquest, said judging from conditions and forecasts it was likely to have been a small funnel-cloud.

Mr Spencer told BBC Radio Suffolk: "To start with I thought it was a vapour trail from a plane.

"But then as I came out of Bury you could see it was black and it was obviously coming out of the sky and then going down to the ground rather than being held up in the clouds."

But Emma Coombs said: "The conditions were quite convective and it's possible there was a funnel cloud, but I don't think it would have been a tornado.

"We have no evidence to suggest anything happened and I did have a look at the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation website but it did not have anything to suggest severe weather."