Much as Monday was warm in Malvern I wasn't expecting the following to
happen. I was helping a friend fit a new cambelt to his car, and as
most of you will know Monday was pretty hot. So we decided to put up a
canopy over the work area. No sooner had we done so than the previously
dead still air wasn't suddenly whipped up with wind.

My friend commented that it was just typical that as soon as we
errected the canopy that we'd get a load of wind blowing it around. But
there was something odd. I looked around me and say that the dust and
leaves on the pavement were getting whipped up into the air in a
distinct spiraling motion. A few seconds afterwards the circling wind
moved further down the road and past some trees in someones garden. The
air by us was totally still again.

Malvern seems to be a bit of a hotspot for dust devils! A few years ago
I encountered two in one day. One of which was actually pretty powerful
as it hung around for a few seconds at the end of a supermarket carpark
looking like it was trying to drill into the ground. But this latest
one surprised me because the previous ones I had seen were on
exceptionally warm days with temps hitting the 30's.

On a seperate not I found this article from the Worcester Standard.
http://www.worcesterstandard.co.uk/news21534.html

In Malvern we had none of this rain to my recallection, so it must have
been highly localised. Although on Weds the 9th in Gloucester a storm
passed in Frampton and I saw distinct rotating cloud that was dearly
trying to form a funnel but just couldn't quite manage it. Such a shame
as I had a very clear view of it and my camera at the ready!

Simon
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http://www.5ep.co.uk