The western half of the Mediterranean has experienced severe storms since the middle of last week.

Through Sunday night and into Monday morning, a clutch of bad weather passed by the north coast of Sicily.

BBC Weather forecaster Matt Taylor said: “A waterspout is a tornado that has occurred over water rather than land.

“They can form during intense storms, on the base of cumulonimbus/thunder clouds.

“Turbulence, and the wind blowing in slightly different directions around the cloud, can cause rotation under the base of the cloud and the spout to form.

“Like tornadoes, they bring powerful winds, but instead of picking up dust and debris they cause a water mist around the column of rotating air.”

The UK Foreign Office said it is supporting a number of British nationals and their families following an incident in Sicily. Britain’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch is also sending a team of inspectors to conduct a “preliminary assessment” into the sinking of the UK registered-boat.

The Bayesian’s registered owner is listed as Revtom Ltd. The superyacht can accommodate up to 12 guests in six suites.

The yacht’s name is understood to be based on the Bayesian theory, which Mr Lynch’s PhD thesis was based on.

Mr Lynch’s wife Ms Bacares is named as the sole legal owner of Revtom registered in the Isle of Man.

A spokesperson for Camper and Nicholsons International, the firm that manages the 2008-built boat, told BBC Verify: “Our priority is assisting with the ongoing search and providing all necessary support to the rescued passengers and crew.”

Mr Lynch sold his company Autonomy to American computing giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011 for $11bn (£8.6bn).

But an intense legal battle following the high-profile acquisition loomed over Mr Lynch for over a decade. He was acquitted in the US in June on multiple fraud charges, for which he had been facing two decades in jail.

The sinking of the yacht came on the same day that Mr Lynch’s co-defendant in the fraud case, Stephen Chamberlain, was confirmed by his lawyer as having died after being hit by a car in Cambridgeshire on Saturday.