A mini tornado was caught on camera in an Irish car park. Shocked passers-by described how they saw a ‘dust devil’ appear at the car park in Tipperary
A shocking video has captured the moment that a “mini tornado” erupted in the middle of a car park in front of stunned locals.
The bizarre weather phenomenon was filmed as it ripped its way through the car park whilst travelling at speed. The storm spiralled at height and picked up dirt from the ground in Ireland. Weather expert Alan O’Reilly, from Carlow Weather, shared the nightmare footage of the “dust devil” causing chaos in the town of Tipperary.
Alan took to social media to share the clip, posting: “Check out this great video of a dust devil or fairy wind in Tipperary today captured by Lisa.” The video quickly became a hot topic online, with viewers expressing their surprise over the bizarre tornado. One viewer remarked: “Mini tornado! Plays hell with your hay or straw swarths just before baling.”
Another added: “Well it’s quite obviously magic Alan. Magic and ‘chemtrails’.” One user shared the mini-tornado’s significance and said: “This is the first dust devil (or is it Sidhe Gaoithe?) I have seen for the British Isles this year.” A fourth person commented: “We probably don’t see them normally because the ground isn’t so dusty. I’ve seen fallen leaves in the garden do swirly stuff sometimes in the autumn.”
However, despite Thursday’s phenomenon being a rare occurrence, Met Eireann issued a follow-up warning and said that “Ireland is not immune” when it comes to tornados, reports Devon Live. They said: “In short, Ireland is not immune to tornadoes, and even if they are sometimes referred to as ‘mini-tornadoes’, they are still tornadoes. In fact, the term ‘mini-tornado’ came into use to distance these tornadoes from the larger ones recorded in the U.S. and other countries. However, all tornadoes can be dangerous and on average there are 10 occurrences in Ireland each year.”
The unusual incident happened in south Central Ireland as temperatures soared on Thursday. In other parts of Ireland, firefighters were forced to battle wildfires. A Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson earlier said: “Firefighters continued to respond to wildfire incidents overnight”, with fire crews mobilised to 41 wildfire calls.
