Footage shared on social media showed a strange mass of swirling dust, better known as a dust devil.
A huge “tornado” has been spotted in the sky over a housing estate near Glasgow.
Keen hiker Eddie Bonnie shared the unusual footage on TikTok of the mass of spiralling dust over the Aurs Meadows development in Barrhead, East Renfrewshire.
His video, taken at around 4.30pm on Thursday, May 22, captured a phenomenon described by the Met Office as a “dust devil” from nearby Cowan Park, Glasgow Live reports.
Locals were amazed to see the strange phenomenon.(Image: Eddie Bonnie / TikTok)
The rare weather event is usually associated with semi-arid and desert areas, and occurs when the ground surface is hot and dry, producing strong updrafts creating a swirling dust-filled air vortex.
They can range in height from a few feet to over 1,000 feet tall. Despite their resemblance to “mini-tornadoes”, they are generally considered harmless.
However, some cases have resulted in injuries and damage to property. One incident in East El Paso, Texas saw a bouncy castle carrying three children rise into the air by 10 feet, according to the Met Office.
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Stunned locals commented on the video to share their disbelief. One said: “My daughter said there was a mini tornado at her school yesterday, I thought she was at it but clearly it happened.”
A second added: “I drove through this on Great Western Road today, it was like a dust tornado, never seen anything like it before.”
Another wrote: “I saw in Greenock one time when I was a wee girl like 30 years ago.”
A fourth said: “The way I saw this and told my boyfriend, I thought I saw a giraffe.”