Debris flew through the air as a tornado ripped through a village in Malaysia.

The powerful winds blew through trees and tore off corrugated iron roofs from homes in Kedah State on October 29.

The twister had touched down near a residential area and had damaged around 10 houses, local media reported.

Khalil Abd Aziz, director of the Kedah Meteorological Department, said: 'This is likely to happen due to the weather pattern of the changing monsoon causing clear skies in the morning, and thunderstorms, heavy rain and strong winds in the afternoon to night time.'

A tornado is a violent rotating column of air that connects the earth and a storm cloud. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the rise of warm, humid air and the fall of cooler air inside a thunderstorm create spinning currents that condense into a visible whirling funnel.

Tornadoes spawned from supercell thunderstorms are the most common, and often the most damaging.