Rare Swedish twisters surprise eye-witnesses

One tornado was glimpsed in the water outside the towns Falkenberg and Varberg.

“It was just boiling out there. The water was sucked into the tornado and flew into two metre high waves. For some time I thought it was headed for shore. It lasted for about half an hour, changed size a couple of times and then headed south,” said witness Timo Rantanen to local newspaper Göteborgs-Posten.

Jonna Johansson was waiting for an equestrian competition to start in Glommen, just outside Falkenberg, when she also caught a glimpse of the spectacular sight this morning.

“Suddenly we saw three tornadoes rapidly crossing the sky,” she said to national newspaper Aftonbladet.

“It was powerful but scary. We wondered if the competition would be cancelled, but the tornadoes went in the opposite direction.”

According to meteorological institute SMHI, tornadoes are rare in Sweden.

“Around ten tornadoes form annually in Sweden, so it’s pretty cool that they’ve been able to see them,” said SMHI’s meteorologist Lovisa Andersson to Aftonbladet.