But one Evening Post reader who snapped the freaky funnel cloud also spotted an unidentified flying object alongside it over Scarisbrick, near Southport.

Pat Regan, 51, of Brook Road in Ainsdale, said: "I always take my camera with me when we go out in the country. It was only when we looked at the pictures later and someone pointed it out to us.

"At first we thought it was nothing, probably just an aeroplane or a bit of debris but as we zoomed into it, we thought 'what is this?'

"It's a green-brown colour and oval shaped. One of the fellows from the national press said it's one of the best UFO pictures he's ever seen – the way it is just there next to the grey funnel of the twister."

The father-of-four was fishing with his daughter Jasmine, seven, on Sunday when they spotted the cloud, which the Met Office said could have caused serious damage had it met the ground.

Mr Regan added: "I thought it was awesome. I never dreamed I'd see anything like that.

"It was like something out of a Spielberg movie. But Jasmine started to cry as it was quite frightening."

Other fascinated Evening Post readers were quick to take pictures and get in touch, including one who captured the phenomena on film.

Marc Harrison, 38, who was travelling from Whittle-le-Woods to Southport for a family day out, said: "My wife Jill was looking out of the window and noticed something odd.

"I looked up and saw the funnel poking out of the sky. There were two and I got a video of one of them, then we carried on along the road.

Then there was another one in Southport. It was akin to something you would see on a documentary, like in the mid-west of America."

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