Funnel cloud / tornado looking cloud

[TimMB]

I was hoping to get your opinion on this funnel cloud / tornado looking cloud I spotted this evening. It was near Thornbury, Bristol / River Severn. 

We’ve had some heavy rain and ominous clouds around but even with my limited meteorological  knowledge I find it unlikely this would be the conditions for a tornados. Sadly I couldn’t study it enough to see rotation. 

What are your thoughts?

[Allseasons-Si]

Hi Tim,it certainly is a funnel cloud or a tornado although i cannot see the base 

i had to crop your image(hope you don't mind) so that i could zoom in

you definitely can see the rotation anti clockwise where i have put the arrows 

thanks for sharing and what a sight.

cheers

[TimMB]

Thanks for taking the time to respond - really helpful.

It seemed to reach quite close to the ground but I can’t confirm if it actually did. If I had the opportunity I would have tried to drive toward it but I was stuck in traffic.

It was quite a sight to see, one of those double take moments! I’m absolutely fascinated by the weather, especially tornados so you can imagine my excitement when I saw it.

 

[snowrye]

Landspout? Gustnado maybe

[TimMB]

37 minutes ago, snowrye said:

Landspout? Gustnado maybe

Those are new terms for me (I’m a Metophobe). Landspout seems more plausible as Gustnados rarely connect to the cloud base (according to Wikipedia) - this almost certainly was.

Here’s the image with some post editing:

 

Edited November 4, 2019 by TimMB

[snowrye]

A landspout doesn't need a mesocyclone

[Weather-history]

Are we sure it is simply not steam venting from an industrial park, factory, chemical works chimney or power station for instance? It does remind me of something like that. 

Edited November 5, 2019 by Weather-history

[Mapantz]

7 minutes ago, Weather-history said:

Are we sure it is simply not steam venting from an industrial park  factory, chemical works chimney or power station? It does remind me of something like that. 

I think you might be right.

I seem to remember reading twitter posts, maybe two years ago? A big fire was reported around Bristol but it turned out to be steam from a power station.

[Weather-history]

3 minutes ago, Mapantz said:

I think you might be right.

I seem to remember reading twitter posts, maybe two years ago? A big fire was reported around Bristol but it turned out to be steam from a power station.

The more I look at the editted picture, the harder it is to shake off the feeling it is simply just steam or smoke from a chimney or sorts. There are a number of industries around my neck of the woods and it reminds me of that.