Video: A 鈥榙ust devil鈥� mini-tornado hits wheat field in western France
The phenomenon was captured on video by two local residents, who called it 鈥榮pectacular鈥�, but a weather engineer has said the event is relatively common
The 鈥榙ust devil鈥� appeared above a freshly-cut wheat field in Loire-Atlantique, and is partly caused by hot and dry air
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A 鈥榙ust devil鈥� has hit a village in Loire-Atlantique, with one couple managing to capture a video of the unusual sight.
The dust trail, which was whipped up into the air like a mini tornado, was seen above a freshly-cut wheat field near Ch芒teaubriant (Loire-Atlantique) on July 28.
Pascale et Beno卯t Perchet, from the nearby village of Moisdon-la-Rivi猫re, saw the spiral at around 14:30.
Mr Perchet : 鈥淚t rose up into the clouds, in the form of a mushroom, 50 centimetres off the ground. It鈥檚 the first time in my life that I鈥檝e ever seen that. It was spectacular.鈥�
However, an engineer at forecaster M茅t茅o France said that the event was not such a rarity.
He said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 quite a common phenomenon and we see it in France fairly regularly. It needs heat, or hot air, good sunshine, and very dry air.鈥�
The weather event occurs when two neighbouring bits of the ground are heating up differently, and the atmosphere is unstable.
While it takes the form of a mini-tornado, the phenomenon is not a storm, and is more often known as a 鈥榙ust devil鈥�, which would translate to 鈥榯ourbillon de poussi猫re鈥� in French.
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