Rare weather in Mediterranean Sea could have caused superyacht carrying British tycoon Mike Lynch to sink

Record-breaking sea temperatures were recorded in the Mediterranean Sea before the luxury superyacht carrying business tycoon Mike Lynch and five others sank.

British technology tycoon Mike Lynch is among six tourists missing after Bayesian sank in a tornado off the coast of Sicily on Monday.

The Mediterranean Sea has been battered by storms this summer and there was "severe weather " caused before the luxury yacht sank. According to scientists the Institut de Ciencies del Mar, Spain ’s leading institute of marine sciences, the maximum sea surface temperature record for the Mediterranean Sea was broken last week.

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The average temperature was the highest in over 40 years, according to the BBC . High sea temperatures can fuel to storm clouds and result in more severe weather .

Storm clouds formed by low pressure have been in the western Mediterranean since last week. Severe flooding hit the Balearic Islands as well as parts of Corsica and Sardinia. The extra energy in the storms could be linked to the record-breaking sea temperatures in the Mediterranean.

The Bayesian yacht was carrying 10 crew members and 12 passengers. 15 people including Mike Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, were rescued and brought to safety.

Four of the six missing passengers are British and two are American. The British superyacht, named Bayesian, capsized at about 5am local time off the coast of Palermo when the area was hit by a tornado.

The Bayesian sank as a storm battered the area overnight. The superyacht can accommodate up to 12 guests in six suites. She was built in 2008 by Italian company Perini Navi.