Residents were terrified when a pair of rare twin waterspouts appeared off a coastal town in the Philippines.

Footage shows the two twisters whirling over the water near Bayawan City in Negros Oriental province on October 10.

Onlooker Cyrus Dayto said: 'I was scared when I saw them, because one of the tornadoes appeared to be getting bigger. They eventually faded away, and heavy rain fell afterwards.'

Philippine weather agency PAGASA said an 'intense thunderstorm' had struck the area and possibly spawned the weather phenomenon.

Two types of tornado form at sea - tornadic waterspouts and fair-weather waterspouts. Tornadic waterspouts form from thunderstorms, just like land tornadoes, while fair-weather waterspouts are typically smaller and less powerful without the need for storms.

Both types of waterspout tornadoes are created when there is a strong difference in air pressure between the surface of the water and the air above it. This difference in pressure creates an updraft, which draws air from the surface of the water into the atmosphere. As the air rises, it cools and condenses, forming a cloud. The cloud can then rotate, forming a waterspout.

It is rare for waterspouts to cause severe damage. However, in August 2023 two tourists were killed and six injured when a waterspout tornado hit their boat on an estuary river in Phetchaburi, southern Thailand.