1,000ft high tornado hits Brighton coast

Racing across the sea at breakneck speed, this is a 1,000ft-high tornado heading straight for Brighton.

The twister loomed over the city's burnt-out pier as it churned up seawaters into a massive whirlpool yesterday.

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Jean Hopkins, 55, had just got up at 6am and glanced out of her seafront apartment window to see it heading straight for her.

She said: 'The sky turned black and a howling wind started to pick up. It must have stretched about 1,000ft into the sky and it was about 150ft wide at its base.

'It seemed to be throwing up water and other debris as it moved along the seafront and all the seagulls were flying away from it as it came in.'

Police and ambulance crews were warned to be on standby at the marina but the whirlwind dispersed as it hit land at nearby Telscombe Cliffs, East Sussex.

There were no reported injuries or damage.