This mini-tornado shocked motorists who spotted it speeding through the countryside north of Brighton.

It was the last thing Rose Gadd and husband Stewart expected to see as they drove along the A23 between Brighton and Hickstead.

Freak weather conditions formed the 30ft twister, which swept past the couple's car without warning on Friday at 4.30pm.

Stewart managed to capture the tunnel of wind on camera as it cut alongside traffic motoring down the busy road.

Rose, of Elphick Road, Newhaven, said: "It is not often you see one of those things in Brighton. I think there was one a few years ago in Hollingbury above Asda.

"We were going about 70mph when we saw this tornado and my husband managed to get it on camera."

A spokesman for the Met Office could not confirm whether the sighting was a real tornado but said it was the right weather conditions for one to develop.

The incident comes after a waterspout was spotted out at sea off the coast of Newhaven last week by Stephanie Moore.

Mrs Moore, of North Down Road, Newhaven, and friend Matthew Korn had been working in the back garden when they spotted the spout.

Last July, Whitehawk residents were left in shock after a tornado ripped through the area, tearing up fences and dustbins and smashing windows.

Residents said the twister was at least 60ft high and seemed to come out of nowhere.

Parents living in Whitehawk Road feared for the safety of their children playing outside who could have been hit by flying debris.

This time the tornado seemed to pass through Sussex harmlessly.