This breath-taking footage shows the moment a fire tornado forms over a lake after a series of unusual weather conditions occur during a wildfire.

The rare sight was captured by ground personnel battling the Downton Lake wildfire in British Columbia, Canada on the night of 17th August wildfire.

The whirl of flame and smoke appeared as a cold front swept through the Gun Lake area and brought about an unusual combination of factors.

Strong winds caused the fire to grow at a peak intensity.

An exceedingly rare reading of 14 per cent of overnight relative humidity was reportedly recorded at about 4:00am.

Later on, the dew point drastically decreased to -11°C – which helped bring about the striking tornado formation.

Finally, the intricate combination of terrain, downslope winds, and the cold front’s influence, resulted in this incredibly rare phenomenon.