The tornado neared the ground twice

A tornado was spotted in Launceston and Helston on Friday. More twisters were seen in Lincolnshire and Warwickshire.

Julie Barwell, of Breague, near Helston said a "very thick tunnel" came close to the ground before disappearing.

A downpour caused a wave of mud and water near Penzance on Thursday forcing 20 householders to bail out their front gardens while fire crews cleared roads.

Unsettled weather

Mrs Barwell told the BBC: "First of all we could hear the thunder rumbling around and the sky was really black.

"It was a very thick tunnel to start off with and it got narrower and narrower and came down but it didn't touch the ground.

Traffic was affected by the flood at Buryas Bridge

"It went back up in the sky again and then formed again and went even thinner. I thought it was definitely going to hit the ground and then it just disappeared.

"If it had been in the other direction it would have come right above us."

Five students were injured when a portable building they were in was lifted into the air in Lincolnshire on Friday.

Another tornado was spotted over Warwickshire, there was flooding in Bristol and trains in York were disrupted by a lightning strike.

Throughout Friday areas of Cornwall experienced unsettled weather, with reports of heavy and thundery rain.