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A funnel cloud has been spotted above the Lancashire countryside.

The unusual twister-like cloud was spotted over Martin Mere nature reserve, near Ormskirk, on Monday by reader Tony Disley.

A funnel cloud is a cone-shaped cloud which extends from the the base of a cloud towards the ground without reaching the earth.

They are formed in the same way as a tornado, building around a localised area of intensely low pressure and are typically associated with the formation of cumulonimbus cloud (also known as thunderstorm clouds).

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.