Locals were terrified as they watched a massive waterspout form next to a beach in Bali, Indonesia.

Gunk Aguz, who lives near the area, said the enormous funnel-shaped cloud started small but it quickly grew bigger.

He said: "We don't usually see this kind of thing here. I called on my friends to watch, some people called the village officials to know if we should do anything."

Witnesses who gathered at the Siut Beach on Tuesday September 29 were either amazed or frightened by the weather phenomenon.

There was no reported damage as it dissipated after 15 minutes before there was a heavy downpour in the village.

Waterspouts are intense columns of swirling tornado clouds that form over a body of water.

They are most commonly found in subtropical areas and disappear shortly after they come into contact with land.

Scientists believe they are formed when pockets of warm air near the water surface rise suddenly.

Cooler air is then sucked into the low pressure air, which picks up water and rises towards the clouds in a rotating motion.