PRAGUE -- For centuries, in Hungary's Puszta flatlands, peasants have told their children frightening tales about a terrible, high-wind weather monster that uproots trees and kills people.

They call it "dragon tail".

Yet in modern times, meteorologists generally believed that the long, funnel-cloud dragon tails -- tornadoes on land, or waterspouts over water -- rarely occurred in Hungary or anywhere else in Europe.

Official weather records indicate that European tornadoes are less common and far less intense than the destructive twisters of the mid- western and southern United States.

But now, weather scientists are taking a closer look at European tornadoes. And so far they've found that those monstrous dragon tails may be whipping the continent six times more frequently than previously believed. It's no fairytale after all.

For decades the occurrence of tornadoes "was almost denied, not only in Hungary but in several other countries in Europe," says Karoly Molnar, a Hungarian defense forces meteorologist.

Speaking with Deutsche Presse-Agentur DPA at a recent scientific conference in Prague, Molnar said official weather data collectors in Hungary had counted only 14 tornadoes over the past 100 years.

But anecdotal evidence from the Puszta suggested the frequency was much greater. Molnar's personal, off-the-job research since 1995 revealed about 10 funnel clouds touch down in Hungary every year.

In the past, though, the weather events that local peasants described as dragon tails were usually categorized in official record books as severe storms with high winds.

"When I went to investigate damage," Molnar said, "I heard from people that this was not the first event of its kind in their lives. And it's the same situation in other countries."

European meteorologists have been conducting similar studies around the continent since the mid-1990s. They now have evidence that, for a variety of technical reasons including data-collection methods, tornado incidents have been vastly undercounted.

"Twenty years ago, no one talked about tornadoes in Europe," said Swiss meteorologist Andreas Walker, who spends some of his time chasing and photographing weather phenomena.

He is particularly proud of a series of waterspout photographs on a lake, which he displayed at the Prague conference.

And German scientist Nikolai Dotzek decided to get a rough estimate of European tornadoes by conducting an informal survey of the conference participants, who hailed from 28 countries.

His conclusion: Europe is swept by about 650 twisters every year -- -- only 150 fewer than the annual average of 800 recorded by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Until now no one has had the data to say how many there were in Europe," Dotzek said. "But there is a growing awareness."

Dotzek started studying official tornado records after questioning the widely-held belief, dating from at least World War I, that Europe only gets about 100 twisters a year. Germany alone, many thought, only received about 20 a year.

A reason for Dotzek's skepticism was that almost all German twister reports came from the heavily-populated northwest, Rhine valley and Berlin areas.

He decided it was logical to think that many incidents in other regions went unseen and/or unreported.

Moreover, he found evidence that weak tornadoes were simply classified and recorded as high winds in Germany, even though the weak ones are still counted with the rest in the United States.

Dotzek, Molnar and other scientists said tornado tracking and reporting are more advanced in the United States than in European countries, partly because U.S. twisters have hit with such deadly effects in the past century. But Europe is catching up.

"Twenty years ago, no one talked about tornadoes in Europe," explained Swiss meteorologist Andreas Walker, who spends some of his time chasing and photographing weather phenomenon.

His contribution to the field includes a rare series of waterspout photos taken on a lake -- proof that waterspouts occur inland in Europe.

Another tornado watcher with a role to play is Jenni Teittinen of the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

Inspired by the Hollywood film "twister", she started counting incidents in her country in 1997, concluding that about five tornadoes and five waterspouts touch down in Finland every year.

Yet the scientists' new interest in accurate tornado counting is more than a statistical exercise.

Teittinen, for example, said she hopes the trend toward better tornado reporting leads to more communication and cooperation among the continent's meteorological institutes. Other scientists hope they can attract more financial support for tornado studies.

Another belief among European meteorologists is that better understanding of the phenomenon could improve forecasting and the delivery of public warnings when severe storms approach.

More frequent tornado warnings -- the kind regularly heard in many U.S. states -- would give Europeans a better chance to protect property and lives from the whirling winds, they said.

And the interest transcends the scientific community. Sensing an awakening of public interest, a television channel in Hungary in August sent a news crew to cover the story of a tornado that struck a community in the Puszta.

Molnar said the TV pictures were dramatic and instructive. "Now people are more aware that (tornadoes) happen in Europe, too," he said.