Evasive action by Dublin flight

Two mini-tornadoes or "twisters" have been sighted off the east coast in recent days. The appearances have been described by Met Éireann as "unusual weather events".

One of the twisters, which was about 30 metres wide, was reported to Met Éireann by a pilot who spotted it while taking off from Dublin airport on Thursday.

The pilot was in the process of avoiding cumulonimbus cloud formations, which can precede thunderstorms, when he observed the twister. While the incident was not classed as an emergency, pilots do not fly into twisters and evasive action was taken.

Yesterday people in Castle Strand caravan park near Kilmuckridge, Co Wexford, saw a twister form out to sea, moving rapidly and apparently sucking up seawater before disappearing up the coast in the direction of Arklow, Co Wicklow.

Niamh Darcy, who runs the caravan park and took the accompanying photograph, said locals were stunned by the twister's appearance.

"It was sunny here on shore but out to sea there was an odd looking cloud. After about five seconds the clouds out there went really, really dark and black and the twister formed.

"It appeared to be sucking up the water from the sea as it swirled about," she said.

Ms Darcy who raced to get her camera, said the photographs did not do justice to the scene.

According to Joanna Donnelly of Met Éireann, such events are unusual but not unheard of in these islands. She said the twisters could be described as "funnel clouds with water spouts" and were an unstable weather system.