"Tornadoes are phenomena associated with supercells, which are a type of thunderstorm; [water]spouts are phenomena essentially caused by specific vorticity anomalies," the entity wrote on Twitter.

This information was corroborated by meteorologist from the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) Pedro Sousa, who captured a photograph of the phenomenon, "despite the distance".

According to RTP, which cites Civil Protection, an extreme wind phenomenon was recorded between 2pm and 2:30pm, which moved towards land and hit some buildings in Montijo.