Watch! Spectacular downburst captured over Lorca as storm sweeps across the area

The dramatic footage shows a powerful column of rain and wind spreading out as it reaches the ground in Avilés

A spectacular weather phenomenon was caught on camera in Lorca as a powerful storm swept through the area on August 20.

The footage, shared by MeteOrihuela, shows a dense curtain of rain descending from the storm over Avilés, a hamlet in the Lorca municipality. The video was recorded by Juan Francisco Vivo.

MeteOrihuela described the event as a downburst, or reventón, a particularly intense burst of descending air associated with a thunderstorm.

While the dramatic appearance can make the phenomenon look like a tornado, the two are actually pretty different. A downburst occurs when air rapidly sinks from a storm and hits the ground, spreading outwards at high speed. The resulting winds can be extremely powerful, but they do not rotate around a central point like a tornado.

These sudden bursts of wind can produce gusts of more than 100 km/h and create very difficult conditions within a matter of minutes.

The downburst was part of a day of unsettled weather across Murcia and other parts of southeastern Spain, following a prolonged spell of extreme heat. Storms brought heavy rain, strong winds and hail to parts of the Region.

The change came after temperatures had climbed well into the 30s. AEMET recorded a maximum of 37.4°C in Lorca, with a peak wind speed of 65 km/h at the local weather station.

Other parts of Murcia also saw some impressive storm activity that afternoon. MeteOrihuela shared footage of a wet downburst in the centre of Jumilla, where wind gusts reached 92 km/h.

For anyone caught underneath one, the sudden combination of torrential rain and violent winds can be both confusing and dangerous. The fact that a downburst spreads outwards rather than rotating is the key difference from a tornado, even though the damage caused by the strongest events can sometimes look remarkably similar.

Read also:More than 262,000 hectares burned by wildfires across Spain this year

Video: MeteOrihuela/ Juan Francisco Vivo