According to the UK's met Office, a funnel cloud is a cone-shaped cloud which extends from the base of a cloud towards the ground without actually reaching the surface.
A rotating column of wind draws in cloud droplets, making a region of intense low pressure visible. They are formed in the same way as a tornado building around this localised area of intensely low pressure and are typically associated with the formation of cumulonimbus thunderclouds.
Crucially, a funnel cloud does not reach the earth's surface, at the point it reaches land it becomes a tornado, or if it reaches a body of water it becomes a waterspout.
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