A ‘mini tornado’ appeared at a pub in Pembrokeshire and made locals run inside while searching for cover.
Yesterday (May 19) afternoon, at The Begelly Arms in Kilgetty, CCTV footage shows a man and woman entering the car park and walking towards the pub before a gust of wind with a twister-like appearance emerged.
The locals were shocked to see the mini tornado which seemed to flow into the pub and disappear.
Meanwhile, another man ran towards the mini tornado and made sure his drink wasn’t knocked over.
The footage was posted on social media by The Begelly Arms who captioned the video ‘Our own mini tornado at Begelly today.’
Owner of The Begelly Arms, Peter Adams said: “We were sitting under the canopy when some friends and customers were just arriving.
"We all heard the blue car with the top down alarm go off and all looked around. That’s when it hit us and created a dust storm.
“There were a couple of customers when the dust devil emerged. One man was trying to protect his pint. I’ve never seen anything like that before. It hit our building and fell apart. We were all scratching our heads.”
According to the Met Office, a dust devil 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 cumulous 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.
“On September 13th, 2000, a dust devil formed at the Coconino County Fairgrounds and caused property damage and injuries.
“Winds were estimated as high as 75 mph. In another rare incident, three children in a bouncy castle were carried over 10 feet in east El Paso, Texas.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here