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This scary-looking dust devil was spotted crossing the road in Utah

Dust devils aren’t generally dangerous, but they do look pretty impressive.

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A dust devil in Utah

This dust devil was filmed crossing a busy highway in Utah.

The devil, which is similar to a mini tornado, was spotted by Twitter user Josh Reimann on the Bacchus Highway near Salt Lake City.

A dust devil is caused when a patch of ground becomes very hot, causing the air above it to rise upwards. The air rushing to replace it at the surface can cause a cyclonic effect.

They are particularly common in dusty and desert areas, so are not an unusual site in Utah – although the size of this one stood out.

Although dust devils look spectacular, they typically aren’t dangerous, with much lower wind speeds than a tornado.

According to Josh, wind speeds were around 30mph that day.

He said: “It was awesome to see in person. The size of the dust devil is what was so amazing.”

According to local news, no injuries were reported.

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