Rare 'dust devil' spotted in Manchester city centre
Manchester was left at a standstill yesterday after a 'dust devil' ripped through the city centre.
The weather phenomenon, which to many looked like a tornado, ripped through Great Ancoats Street on Saturday afternoon, with a 30-metre-high swirling column of dust stopping traffic.
This incident is known as a 'dust devil', which is caused by irregularities caused by temperature contrasts on different surfaces around which then causes rotation of the air.
Wow! Dust devil in Manchester UK today...🌪️ 📹 @riding_adam pic.twitter.com/EwWmPRbgEp
— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) May 10, 2025
In a video shared on social media, an onlooker said: ''What the...? What the hell? There is a tornado in the middle of Manchester... that's crazy.'
When combined with dust and debris, you can get a column of air, which is commonly much smaller than tornadoes.
The Met Office describes a dust devil on its website, stating: "This phenomenon, most commonly known today as dust devils, is an upward spiralling, dust-filled vortex of air that may vary in height from a few feet to over 1,000.
"They are usually several metres in diameter at the base, then narrowing for a short distance before expanding again. They mainly occur in desert and semi-arid areas, where the ground is dry and high surface temperatures produce strong updrafts.
"The initial rotation may be caused by irregularities in the surface. Unlike tornadoes, dust devils grow upwards from the ground, rather than down from clouds.
'In the stronger dust devils, a cumulus cloud can be seen at the top of the rising column of warm air.
'They only last a few minutes because cool air is sucked into the base of the rising vortex, cooling the ground and cutting off its heat supply."
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