Watch: Drinker races to save pint as ‘mini-tornado’ strikes pub

A pub-goer in Wales was seen running through a “mini tornado” to rescue his pint after the weather phenomenon whipped through the establishment’s outdoor seating area.

CCTV footage captures the moment customers of the The Begelly Arms, in Pembrokeshire, seek cover as the rotating column of air - known as a “dust devil” - appears to move towards them.

A man and a woman can be seen running to the safety of a covered outdoor space as the dust follows their direction of travel, while another man races across the car park towards a pint of lager, which is on the edge of a bench and in the dust column’s path.

He then grabs the glass, which was undisturbed by the sudden weather event, wipes his head and walks away.

Jackie Adams, the owner of the pub, witnessed the phenomenon from under the canopy. She told Sky News: “It was amazing. Just wondering where it was going to go.

“You can see all of us turning our heads just because the dust sort of went through the canopy. You can see the plastic on the roof of the canopy lifting up.”

‘Upwards spiralling dust-filled vortex of air’

Mrs Adams said it started as a “big cloud of dust” and formed as it came toward the pub’s covered outdoor area.

The Met Office said the “upwards spiralling dust-filled vortex of air” is known as a “dust devil” or known “willy willy”.

The forecaster said dust devils vary in height from a few feet to over 1,000 and usually occur in desert areas or in places with a high surface temperature where the ground is dry.

Dust devils grow upwards from the ground rather than down from the clouds like tornados.

A cumulus cloud forms at the top of strong dust devils. They only tend to 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.

The Met Office says that while they may look like “mini-tornadoes”, they are not as powerful or destructive.