An archaeologist told of his terror after he found himself in the path of the latest twister to hit Sussex.

Matthew Pope, 33, saw a dark funnel cloud forming on the hills above Waterhall as he drove along the A27 Brighton bypass and decided to turn off the road and follow it.

He said: "It was pure instinct. I was overcome by curiosity and swung off the A27 on to the Saddlescombe Road. But I ended up getting more than I bargained for."

Mr Pope, from Upper Beeding, who works at the institute of archaeology at University College London, said: "I had seen tornados forming out at sea but never inland so I thought it was a good opportunity to follow a developing twister.

"But I'd misjudged the perspective on the thing completely and instead of being a huge tornado a long way away it turned out to be medium-sized and very close.

"Before I knew it I was under it in a mass of heavy rain which made driving impossible.

"I don't think the funnel quite touched down as there was no debris but I had an amazing view up inside the twister, seeing the clouds being pulled into its vortex.

"Had this passed just a few hundred yards to the south-east it would have snaked across the top of Dyke Road and Woodland Drive.

"Afterwards there was a flash downpour with incredible torrential rain. I can see why people get excited and chase these things in the States but I think next time I'll keep my distance."

The incident happened at about 11am on Monday, a few hours before another twister was spotted over Worthing.

Stonemason Brian Bastable watched it appear from beneath a dark cloud about 500 yards away from where he was working, off the A259 near Ferring.

Mr Bastable, 31, from Worthing, managed to snap some pictures of the twisting clouds.

He said: "We had finished lunch and were just getting back to work. I looked out of the big barn doors and it was pitch black and there was a lot of dark cloud.

"The whole cloud formation started to rotate. It was about 70ft in diameter and I knew straight away it could be potentially very dangerous if it touched the ground.

"Two mini twisters came out of the main cone and they were whizzing round each other. You could see the cloud getting sucked down like water down a plug hole.

"It was there for ten minutes and was quite an amazing thing to watch. If it had turned into a tornado it would have been terrifying and we would have legged it up the road. But I felt it was at a safe distance. I was amazed more than frightened."

Twisters are violently revolving funnel clouds which sometimes form in families of two or more.

On average, 33 tornadoes are reported each year in the United Kingdom. In recent years more violent tornados have caused damage to cars, trees, windows and homes in Rottingdean, Horsham, Whitehawk and Bognor.