Video shows how close Milton Keynes came to having a tornado during last week’s storms

As heavy rain and thunderstorms swept Milton Keynes last week, one reader spotted a sinister cloud formation that could have ended in a tornado.

Daniel Evans was walking on Ashland near Simpson last Thursday afternoon when he watched a funnel cloud form and start to drop to the ground.

A second one then began to materialise but as David watched they both drifted out and disappeared.

Had they hit the ground, they would have become a tornado.

Funnel clouds are cone-shaped and extend from the base of a cloud, often resembling dangling bits of rope.

A spokesman for the Met Office said: “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.”

The funnel is formed when 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,” said the Met spokesman.

“Cumulonimbus clouds are almost always the host cloud from which tuba form, meaning that heavy rain, hail, thunder and lightning can all be expected. If a funnel cloud does make contact with the ground and produce a tornado, very strong winds can be expected in the immediate vicinity of the vortex potentially causing severe damage.”

In a typical year, the UK sees around 30 to 35 tornadoes each year - though it is very rare that are they strong enough to cause any significant damage.

Daniel, who managed to get a video of the clouds, said: “My wife is obsessed with tornadoes so the knowledge has been passed on!”

A Met Office yellow weather warning was in place at the time of the sighting. On just such a day in May 1950, a tornado struck nearby Linslade during thunderstorms.

Some 50 houses lost their roofs and a brick-built bakery was demolished. Old Road and New Road were particularly affected.

Giant hailstones broke windows in some houses, with some falling at North Crawley, near Newport Pagnell, freezing together and measuring a giant six inches across.