21-05-2025
Incredible moment dust-devil sends paddleboard and towels flying high into the air as it hits UK beach
British beachgoers watched in awe as a "mini tornado" sent a paddleboard and towels flying into the air at a packed seaside resort.
Day-trippers scrambled to save their belongings amid shouts of 'what on earth' and 'woah' while the twister whirled across the sand in Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire.
Shocking footage shows people's personal items drift away as if by magic, to both gasps and laughs of disbelief.
One beachgoer, commenting on a lost item that has been flung far afield, observed: 'That's like gone gone'.
Despite being a fairly rare occurrence, the dust-devil - small but 'vigorous' whirlwind - came almost exactly a year after a pub was struck just two miles away.
Locals at the Begelly Arms, outside the town of Saundersfoot, were forced to run for cover when the tiny tornado swept through the car park on May 20th, last year.
Speaking at the time, landlord Peter Adams said: 'We saw this thing heading towards us. We thought it was the start of a tornado. You see these things start on television all the time. We did panic a bit and think "what can we do?"'
A dust devil, also known as a "willy willy" is described by the Met Office as 'upward spiralling, dust filled vortex of air that may vary in height from a few feet to over 1,000ft'.
One beachgoer can be heard commenting on a lost item that has been flung so far afield: 'That's like gone gone'
WHAT'S A DUST-DEVIL
Dust devils are small 'but vigorous' whirlwinds, usually noticeable by the dust, sand and debris it picks up from the ground.
They range from 3 - 30 meters in diameter, with an average high of 200 meters. Some have reached up to a kilometer.
They form when hot air rises quickly through the cooler air above it. If conditions are right this can cause a spinning effect as the air rises.
The dust whirls are normally found in arid conditions when sunlight is particularly strong.
Source: American Meteorological Society
It adds: '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.'
Unlike tornados, dust devils grow upwards from the ground, rather than from clouds.
Earlier this month, bystanders down Great Ancoats street in Manchester gawked at a 30-metre high swirling column of dust as it ripped through a road packed with cars.
The towering dust devil briefly brought traffic to a standstill with its tornado-like appearance as it enveloped a large tree.
A bewildered onlooker exclaimed: 'What the...? What the hell? There is a tornado in the middle of Manchester... that's crazy.'
Another said: 'I looked out and there's there's this towering cloud of dust. I jumped up and thought "it's a tornado or something".
'It was really interesting. I've lived here eight years and I've never seen that. It was pretty wild.'
Despite the amazement of those around, the 'tornado' quickly dissipated after a few seconds.
