Dad and son 'seconds' from being caught in mini tornado in Bruera

Tom Hale, a nature photographer, had been watching the storm in the distance with his son Rye at around 6.50pm when they noticed something "weird" was coming towards them from above.

They quickly retreated back into the house before a fast-moving column of air and rain water shot across the garden and into the nearby woods.

Luckily, no one was hurt, but the incident left both of them shaken with them even able to feel the impact of the mini tornado once inside the house.

Despite lasting only a few moments, the funnel also broke several branches and scattered them across the garden.

Tom said: "It was a very frightening experience, to say the least, as me and our 6-year-old were literally seconds from being caught up in it.

"The windows in the house were almost pulled out of the frames."

Mr Hale said that he had not experienced anything like it "in his life" and could understand how terrifying phenomena like this must be in areas of the US, where larger tornadoes are a more regular occurrence.

He took to Facebook, asking: "Anyone else in the Chester area experience a funnel at about 18:45 this evening? The wind was out of this world, along with the rain and hail.

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"I shot this a few minutes after the wind dispersed. Wow, what an experience!!! Shook our little boy up a bit."

Funnel clouds usually form during thunderstorms or heavy showers when the atmosphere is unstable. They often look like cone-shaped or thin rope-like protuberances which hang down from the cloud base, if they touch the ground they are generally regarded as a tornado, and can lift debris or cause damage.

The Met Office says that in a typical year, the UK sees around 30 to 35 tornadoes, though it is very rare that they are strong enough to cause significant damage.

Tom is typically used to capturing natural scene more like this one, which was awarded Judges' Favourite by BBC Countryfile. (Image: Tom Hale)

Tom, who recently won the award for Judges' Favourite Photo for the 2023 BBC Countryfile Calendar, is no stranger to capturing nature with a camera but in this instance was helped out by the CCTV at their home just over the Wales/England border in Bruera, which shows him and his son heading quickly inside before the swirling wind and rain follows.