This is a depiction of a waterspout in Les Curiosités et les Merveilles de la Nature (‘Curiosities and Natural Wonders’) (1869) written by Jean-Baptiste Munerelle. A waterspout is a type of funnel cloud that can form over bodies of water when horizontal winds encounter the rapidly rising air beneath developing Cumulus congestus clouds. Though waterspouts look dramatic, they do not necessarily suggest that a storm is coming. Though they can form in the rotating updrafts of gathering thunderstorms, they are more common in coastal areas beneath Cumulus towers. Such waterspouts, all bark with no bite, are referred to as ‘non-tornadic’ or ‘fair-weather’ waterspouts.

If you want to spot a waterspout of your own, you could do worse than head to the Mediterranean coast of France in the autumn months, where the combination of a warm sea and cool winds often create just the right conditions for a fair-weather waterspout to form.