Incredible photos have emerged from China that show octopus and other sea creatures raining from the sky after being sucked out of the ocean by a violent storm.  

The images were taken in the coastal city of Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong Province on Wednesday.

Although the images may seem unlikely, fish can be sucked from the sea by tornado-strength winds which form a waterspout. The animals sucked up with the water can be deposited hundreds of yards or even miles away after being released by the wind. 

Recent examples of the phenomenon include a 2017 incident in Mexico in when fish rained from the sky in the town of Tampico, and a downpour of fish in the town of Kerala, India in 2008.    

The Chinese Meteorological Administration, China's national weather agency, confirmed there had been a number of sea creatures blown onto the land by a waterspout.