This is the scary moment a waterspout passed by boats on a beach in the Philippines.

Footage shows the 15ft-high vortex drifting on the water in Davao del Sur on August 1.

Worried fishermen stayed on the shore while watching the weather phenomenon drift away.

No one was reported hurt nor damaged despite the waterspout being too close to the beach.

Local Ruby Salve said: ‘We were so scared that it would land on the beach. We were just grateful that the wind blew it towards another direction.'

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.