It has so turned out that the heat in Qatar was the least of concern for players after stadiums were installed with air conditioning. The latter stage of the tournament was expected to get cooler now that winter is here.
But none expected a tornado in the desert. A huge tornado struck Qatar, with dramatic footage showing the black spiral-shaped storm clouds touching down in the desert country.
Videos uploaded on Qatar Meteorology Department show a formation of dark clouds and what seemed to be a tornado was spotted north of Doha, videos uploaded on Qatar Meteorology Department show. Rain was also experienced in some areas.
The tornado was accompanied by hail and torrential rain that lashed Ras Laffan Industrial City, around 50 miles north of the Qatari capital Doha. Ras Laffan is less than half an hour's drive from Al Khor stadium, the most northern of the World Cup venues.
A cluster of enormous hailstones which reportedly fell in Qatar | twitter/@TannouryZiad
A Twitter user in the Gulf state shared a photo of more than a handful of collected hailstones which lashed Qatar.
