Rare sea tornadoes pictured on Forth

But two giant waterspouts – tornadoes at sea – have been spotted a little closer to home on the Forth.

The waterspouts were recorded by staff at the Forth maritime rescue co-ordination centre in Fife Ness at around noon yesterday.

Situated between Dunbar and St Abb's Head, the waterspouts – which were over 750ft high – were visible for around ten minutes.

Although very rare, it is not the first time waterspouts have been spotted in Scotland. In 1879, two or three waterspouts were reported to have caused the Tay Bridge disaster.

Watch officer Mike Scott-Hayward said: "I have never seen a waterspout in the River Forth before, it was quite exciting to see. They just looked like thin grey lines arising out of the sea. We all realised straight away that they were waterspouts."

He added: "They can be destructive and a danger to ships and aircraft. Waterspouts can be quite ferocious depending on how severe the weather is. A plane would be pretty smashed up if it went through one.

"They were quite large waterspouts so if a small boat like a yacht had got caught in it, it is possible it would be lifted up or bits of the yacht sucked up into the air.

"Everybody understands that tornadoes wreak havoc but the only reason a waterspout doesn't is because there is usually nothing for it to damage – all it is doing is sucking up water. But if it came too close to a ship or a boat, there might be problems."

Staff at the centre informed air traffic control of the waterspouts, which formed as a result of the cold weather, and checked if any ships or boats were nearby.

Mr Scott-Hayward added: "There was a ship between five and ten miles away but the waterspouts were dying out by then.

"The water just dissipates, it looks as if they are going back down into the water and the top bit disappears into the clouds."

A forecaster for the Met Office said waterspouts were "relatively uncommon" in the winter, and had formed in the Forth due to light winds and the extremely cold weather. He added: "Waterspouts are more common in the spring and summer because the wind has to be relatively light for them to form.

"They are caused by very cold air moving over a relatively warm part of the sea, and that causes a rapid convection of the air.

"The cold air is forced to rise very quickly as it is heated from below by the sea, under the process of convection.

"Rapid heating and rising of the air can sometimes cause a circular motion to develop, which forms a waterspout."