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Funnel cloud spotted over Galway on Tuesday. Image Kit O Sullivan
An eagle-eyed Irish Weather Online follower in County Galway has captured what appears to be a funnel cloud forming near her home.

Kit O'Sullivan from Ardrahan in the south of the county emailed pix@irishweatheronline.com with her shot of the weather feature forming from a storm cell on Tuesday evening (5.15-5.20P.M.)

Kit said the funnel cloud was located between Kilcolgan and Kinvara. She decribed the feature "growing quite long", but could not determine if it touched the ground, and consequently becoming a confirmed tornado.

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Mammatus, classic cloud structure from which funnel clouds and tornadoes form, pictured over Ardrahan. The bulges in the structure are thought to be formed by sinking pockets of cold air through warmer beneath.
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Heavy rain falls in Ardrahan around the time a funnel cloud was sighted in the area
The funnel cloud was spotted less than a fortnight after another sighting in the West of Ireland. A funnel cloud formed close to Spanish Point Airfield in Co Clare on 11 June.
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© Paul O'KeeffeClare funnel cloud.
A funnel cloud over Bangor, Co Down was also captured on video on the same day.


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A funnel cloud was also spotted in the skies over Ashbourne, Co Meath. @bren_69 submitted this image via Twitter.
While tornadoes are relatively rare in Ireland, funnel clouds and water spouts are a more regular occurrence. Funnel clouds are condensation funnels extending from the base of a towering cumulus or Cb, associated with a rotating column of air that is not in contact with the ground. Water spouts, which are more commonly associated with tropical or subtropical waters, are small, relatively weak rotating columns of air over water beneath a Cb or towering cumulus cloud.

Tuesday was one of the most active thunderstorm days of the year so far with torrential rain and thunder and lightning being reported in counties Tipperary, Sligo, Fermanagh, Cavan, Longford, Monaghan, Meath, Kildare, Louth, Down and Antrim.

Belmullet in Co Mayo recorded 35 mm (almost 1.5 inches) of rainfall in the 18 hr period up to6pm. On a positive note temperatures across many parts of the country climbed to their highest level in at least a fortnight. Casement In Dublin recorded 19c, Claremorris recorded a daytime high of 17.8c while Ballyhaise in County Cavan saw 17.7c. Temperatures are expected to rise further as over the coming weekend although some thundery showers can also be expected.