Tourists run for their lives as ferocious waterspout makes landfall on Ayia Napa beach

This is the terrifying moment tourists ran for their lives as a raging waterspout wreaked havoc along the shoreline of a popular tourist hotspot, sending beach furniture and other debris flying into the sky.

Footage shows the first stages of the twister in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, on Monday as it formed a long, thin column over the water.

It quickly gained momentum and developed into a larger tornado-like twister and as speed increased, it got wider and faster.

Eventually, it makes its way to the beach, sending beach furniture into the air, mixing the water with sand as tourists fled the area.

Local police say no major damage was done, apart from moving some sunbeds on the beach.

Government data shows that approximately 1,000,000 British tourists travel to Cyprus each year, with Ayia Napa being one of the most popular destinations.

Waterspouts develop over bodies of water, scooping up vapor and dragging it to the sky.

Occurring occasionally in late summer and autumn, the slender ‘tornadoes’ can be dangerous to boaters and coastal locations, but pose no threat further inland as they collapse shortly after making landfall.

However, the swirling columns of air and water mist can sometimes do as much damage as a tornado.

They fall into two categories: fair weather waterspouts and tornado waterspouts.

Tornadic waterspouts are associated with severe thunderstorms and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning.

Meanwhile, in fair weather, waterspouts usually form along the dark, flat base of a line of developing clouds. By the time the funnel is visible, a waterspout is nearly mature in good weather.