A huge waterspout tornado swirled in front of a beach in Thailand.

Footage shows the long vortex extending from the sky to the sea's surface in Lephang Beach in Phuket province on December 13.

Its body was thin and almost invisible, but the head reached the storm clouds above while it churned up the water below.

Holidaymakers on a jet ski had to cut their ride short and returned safely to shore as the weather shifted that day.

Onlooker Wara Salay said: 'It looked like a very long elephant trunk.'

Two types of tornadoes 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 water's surface 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.