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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Sean McPolin

Firefighters spot rare 'dust devil' spinning through countryside as they battle blaze

This is the moment a rare dust devil span its way through a British countryside.

The usually harmless phenomenon was seen in Brandon, County Durham, at 2pm on Thursday following a wildfire.

Fire crews captured the dust devil unfolding after they called to extinguish a blaze.

Dust devils are more common in desert or arid landscapes where their is hot and dry weather but are rarely seen in Britain.

County Durham & Darlington Fire and Rescue Service shared the incredible footage showing the towering twister as it kicked up debris into the air.

The dust devil was spotted in Brandon, County Durham (Durham Fire Rescue Service/ SWNS)

Tweeting from @cddfrs account, the service said: "Here's something you don't see everyday! This is a dust devil from a wildfire in Brandon this afternoon.

"Dust devils form when a pocket of hot air near the surface rises quickly through cooler air above it, forming an updraft.

"Some may say it is out of this whirl! £HereAllWeek."

The freak weather phenomenon amazed many people online, including one person on social media who wrote: "Well, that's another one to tick off on my stuff that we didn't expect to see already in 2022 Climate Chaos bingo card."

Another added: "Very dangerous in this context, as it can carry burning embers a long way to start new fires!"

A third added: "That's very impressive" while another added: "Looks more like Kansas than Britain, crazy stuff."

Dust devils are also sometimes referred to as "willy willy's" and are 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.

Unlike tornadoes, dust devils grow upwards from the ground, rather than down from clouds

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