Panicked tourists watched as a waterspout torando formed near a port in the Philippines.

Footage shows the severe weather phenomenon looking like a dark thread descending from the dark clouds above off the coast of Palawan province's Sabang beach on July 6.

Nearby fishing boats immediately fled from the whirlpool which disappeared after almost ten minutes.

No one was reported hurt nor damaged from the incident but boat trips going to the renowned Palawan Underground River were either delayed or cancelled.

Tour guide BJ Recla said: ‘We had just arrived at the port when the dark clouds appeared. The waterspout slowly formed and the tourists were so terrified. Some of them decided to cancel their trips.'

Waterspout tornadoes 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.