Impressive image of a tornado were captured on film in the north of France as a storm crossed the region on Sunday,
The ‘landspout’ tornado appeared in Eure-et-Loire (Centre-Val de Loire) at 16:30, forming over the fields near Orgères-en-Beauce. Fortunately it caused no major damage and no-one was hurt.
[Tornade en Eure-et-Loir ce samedi]
Autre vidéo de la 🌪️ de type « landspout » observée ce samedi 18 mai 2024 après-midi, en Eure-et-Loir, près de Loigny-la-Bataille, sous un actif ⛈️.
Vidéo : Aurore Berthault pour l’@AssoMeteoCentre.
— Association Météo Centre - Val de Loire (@AssoMeteoCVDL)
“The tornado started like a transparent whirlwind in the sky before descending and getting really big,” one resident told . “It lasted around 5 to 10 minutes”
[Tornade en Eure-et-Loir samedi]
Nouvelle vidéo exceptionnelle de la 🌪️ de type « landspout » observée le samedi 18 mai 2024 après-midi, en Eure-et-Loir, peu après 16h, entre Loigny-la-Bataille et Nonneville, sous un actif ⛈️.
Vidéo : Clemence ROGER pour…
— Association Météo Centre - Val de Loire (@AssoMeteoCVDL)
‘Landspouts’ can form during the growth stage of certain clouds or due to outflows from a weatherfront, usually close to the ground and without a strong up-flow.
They are typically weaker than the more dangerous tornadoes that form within storms, but are highly unpredictable due to not being visible on weather radar maps.
Another eyecatching weather phenomenon appeared in the skies over the Riviera several hours later on Sunday evening.
Red sprites or farfadets, were pictured by storm chaser Christophe Suarez in Nice at 22:00.
Hier soir un complexe orageux très actif a traversé le nord est de l'Italie en direction de la Slovénie. Ces orages ont décoché de beaux spécimens de farfadets (red sprites) dans le ciel de , entre 22h et minuit.
— Christophe Suarez (@suarezphoto)
Red sprites are large electric discharges that occur in the atmosphere above storm clouds, usually at a height of around 50 to 90km
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While not uncommon per se, they are notoriously difficult to photograph, due to their lasting a split second and usually being hidden by clouds.
"Farfadets are related to geomagnetism above storms: sometimes they appear alongside more powerful bolts of lightning,” Mr Suarez told.
As with the English term sprite, the French farfadets is also a word for fairies.