In the midst of tumultuous weather that has been sweeping across the UK, this Boeing 737 took off from an airport with a funnel cloud rotating behind it. The picture, however, may be a bit deceiving, making the funnel appear closer than it actually was. But even still -- this could not have been a comforting sight for passengers.
Severe weather has been battering the UK over the past two weeks, with the remnants of Hurricane Bertha and a powerful surge of unseasonably cool air moving in and sweeping summer weather away.
The Ryanair flight took off from East Midlands Airport, southwest of Nottingham, England. No word on whether this was a smooth flight, though.
Great snap of a Ryanair Plane taking off at East Midlands Airport this week with a Tornado hitting land behind it! pic.twitter.com/Heea2idurn— Robbie Kane (@robbiekane74) August 15, 2014
Thursday was a stormy day across the UK, due to a powerful cold front. Some of the showers and thunderstorms on Thursday produced a third of a month's worth of rain in just a few hours. Flooding affected parts of London, as these rains came soon after the summer's heaviest rainfall occurred last weekend as the remnants of Bertha swept through as a post-tropical storm.
The UK has already seen nearly its entire normal rainfall for August in the first half of the month http://t.co/AYfPZ83Lg4— Met Office (@metoffice) August 15, 2014
Sarah Fay spotted this #funnelcloud today over Burton on the Wolds. If it touched the ground it would be a tornado pic.twitter.com/YhcY8Yxz0t— Met Office (@metoffice) August 14, 2014
Planes have had close calls with tornadoes before, including in the U.S. In 2011, an EF-4 tornado struck Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, and fully loaded aircraft experienced the twister on the tarmac.