These are the dramatic pictures of a tornado twisting through the countryside.
David Gault, 47, was walking with his family and taking pictures of puffins at a nature reserve, when he caught the dramatic scene on camera.
Renewable energy manager David said: “My nine-year-old son spotted the tornado and started shouting to get our attention.
“The funnel was coming down from some pretty dark storm clouds. The tornado must have been a few miles away, but it was pretty dramatic from where we were.
“It must have been 50 metres wide at the bottom and it lasted for about a minute.
“Then the funnel went back into the clouds and disappeared. I have not seen anything like it before.”
David, of Aberdeen, snapped the pictures when he looked inland from Fowlsheugh RSPB reserve, near Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, and saw the twister travelling through rural farmland.
Some tornados can reach speeds up to 300 miles an hour, but Graeme Whipps, Met Office forecaster in Aberdeen, said that this twister was unlikely to cause too much damage.
He said: “There was certainly a shower in that area at that time and the cloud is what we would call a funnel cloud.
“It is effectively the start of a tornado and can sometimes reach the ground but it will not usually amount to much.
“It happens when there is vigorous convection activity, like the thunder storms out towards Huntly and Keith on Saturday, but the most damage you might see here would be a branch off a tree.
“If you were near one you might notice it being a lot windier and they are not uncommon during the summer.
“The weather is looking a bit more settled this week so we are unlikely to see any more of these funnel clouds, but there could still be showers.”
