Funnel Cloud over Wiltshire
Residents in Wiltshire were stunned to see a spiralling cloud funnel forming over the west of the county in the early evening of the 1st August 2005. Many described the mini-tornado as being several hundred feet high and lasting for up to 20 minutes. It was not a technically a tornado, because it did not touch the ground. The funnel cloud owed its formation to a combination of rising and rotating air. The rising air was due to warm air near the surface and cold air aloft. This makes the air 'unstable' and it tends to rise. This is what produces showers on a regular basis.

Miracle fireball survivors
An Air France A340 jet with 309 people aboard overshot the runway at Toronto international airport and burst into flames after plunging into a muddy ravine, but with flames licking around the fuselage and smoke filling the cabin all passengers and crew managed to make a desperate escape.

Thick black smoke was seen billowing a mile into the air from the wreckage — which lay at the end of Pearson Airport’s runway just yards from a Canadian motorway. Survivors said they “ran like crazy” from the wreckage and one of the pilots was found wandering on the nearby motorway in a state of shock. The crash happened during a ferocious thunderstorm on the 3rd August 2005.

Discovery back on Earth
Space Shuttle Discovery lands at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, California. Discovery captained by US space shuttle Discovery Commander Eileen Collinshave held an emotional reunion with their families as NASA sought to counter doubts about the future of the space shuttle programme. The space shuttle Discovery and its seven astronauts returned to Earth safely on Tuesday 9th August 2005, successfully completing NASA's troubled resumption of human space flight 2½ years after the Columbia disaster.

Discovery Piggyback
Space Shuttle Discovery rides piggyback atop a specially modified Boeing 747 as it departs runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base in California on its ferry flight back to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, 19th August 2005. Discovery began the return journey to its Florida home port from its landing site in California after having to land at Edwards Air Force base because of thunderstorms at Cape Canaveral.

Hurricane Katrina Batters New Orleans
A dog waits on the side roof of a house to be rescued by workers after Hurricane Katrina tore though the area with high wind and rain in New Orleans, Louisiana. More than 50 people have been killed as Hurricane Katrina lashed the US Gulf coast, 29th August 2005. The hurricane brought 105mph (170km/h) winds to Mississippi region