Waterspout
A 1,000ft tornado which emerged above the ocean was seen swirling at incredible speeds and caused an unsuspecting yacht to flee, in fear of being caught in the freak occurrence
A huge 1,000ft waterspout caused a storm on a popular beach after swirling around at incredibly high speeds - forcing a yacht to flee in a hurry.

As a storm turned the sky grey this week, a wispy cloud emerged and began to swirl around and headed towards the water just off the coast of Bungan Beach, in the northern suburb of Sydney, Mona Vale.

The freak occurrence - known as an intense columnar vortex - was spotted by a photographer as she glanced out of her window.

Waterspout
Thick grey clouds funneling towards the water emerged when a wispy cloud began to break away from dark storm clouds above

Thick grey clouds funneling towards the water emerged when a wispy cloud began to break away from dark storm clouds above, this occurrence is also referred to as a waterspout.

The scene lasted two minutes, in which photographer Pamela Pauline, 53, was able to capture the incredible incident.

Pictures of the waterspout show a yacht, miniature in comparison, close to the spout of the huge tornado and although Ms Pauline did not fear for her life she said she had been 'worried' for the sailboat.

Other boats in the area including what looks like a couple of speed boast also tried to make their escape from the looming spiral column.

Waterspout
Pictures of the waterspout show a yacht, miniature in comparison, close to the spout of the huge tornado
The sky above can be seen rotating and growing darker as the column intensifies, back-lit by rain clouds making their way over to Sydney.

Ms Pauline saw the incredible weather phenomenon when she glanced out of her window on Friday.

She said: 'Apparently it is a tornado over the ocean with water called a waterspout.'

'I live near the ocean and this is the first time I've seen something like this. This was the beginning of the storm, it then started raining and didn't stop for four days in Sydney.

'I felt in awe of nature while watching this happen,' she added.

Starting very small the huge column crashed down into the ocean and receded again.

Waterspouts do not suck up water, they are small and weak rotating columns of air that hover over the water.

The intense funnels are formed when layers of cool air blowing over the water cause warm, moist air to sweep up from underneath, forming a column of condensation.

The tornadoes can pose a threat to boats, swimmers and aircraft in their path.