Updated 5.45pm with Sliema sightings

Waterspouts were spotted around the country on Friday amid scattered showers and heavy downpours in some localities.

Video footage sent to Times of Malta shows at least four waterspouts of different sizes across Marsascala and off the coasts of Mellieħa and Sliema.

The videos shows columns of rotating wind similar in appearance to the dense, dark storm clouds above stretching down from the sky.

In Mellieħa and Sliema, the waterspouts can be faintly seen throwing up water into the air as they intersect the surface of the sea below while in the footage shot in Marsascala, only the top of a waterspout is visible above the skyline.

Waterspouts are similar in appearance to tornados, though generally smaller and less intense.

But they can still be dangerous due to the “high wind speeds and gusts associated with them,” according to the Meteorological Office at Malta International Airport.

Last month, UK tech entrepreneur and investor Mike Lynch was among seven people who died when the luxury yacht they were onboard sunk after being struck by a waterspout off the coast of Sicily.

Waterspouts usually form in coastal areas in humid environments as dense plume-like clouds called cumulonimbus clouds are forming, the Met Office explained.

While developing quickly, the phenomenon also dissipates quickly, with lifespans typically of 20 minutes or less, the Met Office said. 

Those seen on Friday – referred to as ‘non-tornadic' waterspouts, despite their appearance – were spotted as the country experienced varying amounts of rainfall in different localities.

As of 3pm, the closest Met Office weather station to Mellieħa – Mosta – had recorded almost 32mm of rainfall, while winds at the same station registered at two knots.

The weather station in Benghajsa, the closest to Marsascala, meanwhile, registered almost seven millimetres of rainfall and winds of four knots.

This is not the first time waterspouts have been spotted in Malta, with the phenomena capturing people’s imaginations several times over the years.

In 2020, a waterspout appeared to topple a caravan after appearing on the water over Mellieħa's Armier Bay, while other incidents of the phenomenon the same day delighted photographers keen to snap a picture of the unusual event.

The Sliema waterspout spotted from Tigne Point. Photo: Peter Man.

According to the Met Office weather forecast on Friday afternoon, the country was experiencing isolated showers and winds between force two and three intensity.

The weekend is expected to be cloudy with showers predicted on Monday. Peak temperatures are expected to hover between 26 and 27 degrees Celsius over the next week.