A HUGE tornado has struck Qatar, with dramatic footage showing the spiraling black storm clouds touching down in the desert country.
the World Cup host has also been hit by torrential rain for the first time since the tournament began last month.
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It landed in the industrial city of Ras Laffan, about 50 miles north of the Qatari capital Doha.
The Qatar Meteorological Department shared images of downpours and heavy hail in the city.
The roads in Ras Laffan have even been flooded due to the sudden and very unusual deluge.
Ras Laffan is less than half an hour's drive from Al Khor Stadium, the northernmost of the World Cup venues.
A Twitter user in the Gulf state shared a photo of a huge pile of hailstones that reportedly smashed into land on Wednesday.
Qatar's average annual rainfall is just 75mm per year, compared to between 800 and 1,400mm in the UK.
Average monthly precipitation is just 5.9mm, and during the dry season between June and October, rainfall is almost unheard of.
Hail is even more unusual, as temperatures in the Middle Eastern nation rarely dip below 13C, even at night during the coolest month of January.
Tornadoes are also extremely rare in Qatar, which, according to the World Risk Index, has the lowest natural disaster threat level of any country in the world.
The index, developed by the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, calculates vulnerability to a variety of natural hazards, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, storms, floods, droughts and sea level rise. .
Today marks the first day off from soccer in nearly three weeks, with the first of four quarterfinal matches kicking off on Friday.
EnglandThe players and the coaching staff are training for the highly anticipated clash against France on Saturday.
So far, the country has seen almost uninterrupted sunshine since the start of the tournament.
The BBC's Gary Lineker even shared a picture of the cloudy sky on Wednesday, tweeting: "First day without football. First day with a cloud."
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