An enormous dust devil formed off a cliff in front of astonished tourists.

The funnel-shaped cloud appeared on the tip of the rockface overlooking the sea when a family of holidaymakers spotted it from a resort in Bataan province, the Philippines on March 6.

Footage shows the smoke-like figure slowly forming into a raging twister on a hot sunny day. It appeared to dissolve for a few seconds before its base rotated more intensely, turning into a 50ft-high tornado.

The rare tropical weather phenomenon lasted for almost two minutes before it disappeared.

Onlooker Leo Delos Santos said: ‘I was with my wife and kids when we noticed the strange shape. It was the first time that we had seen something like that.'

Leo's son can be heard saying in the video, seemingly worried, ‘Dad, is it going to come here?' to which the reassuring father answered, ‘no, I think it will stay there.'

The dust devil did not leave any damage as it formed on the cliffside road away from the buildings.

Dust devil tornadoes are types of whirlwinds that form when the sun heats a patch of land and the air above becomes warmer and rises quickly.

Cooler air then moves into the low-pressure gap left by the rising warm air. The new drafts of cooler air also heat up and rise and the cycle continues, picking up dust and debris and making the spiral visible.

They are not as dangerous as supercell tornadoes, which can cause severe damage.