Photos: 'Insane' lightning strikes parts of UK

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The Met Office has warned of flooding and possible damage to buildings from lightning, which is pictured here striking over the city of London pic: REUTERS[/caption]

Thunderstorms and torrential rain are sweeping across parts of southern Britain, with frequent lightning flashing across the sky.

Around 15,000 lightning strikes were recorded in four hours on Saturday night, BBC Weather said. The thunderstorms swept northwards across the south of England, the Midlands and Wales and are expected to continue throughout Sunday. The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for heavy rain and flooding. Many people got out their cameras to photograph and video the electrical storm, which was called “utterly insane” and “like being under a strobe light”.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="976"]lightning illuminating the sky over the Southbank on the River Thames in London Bolts of lightning flash across the sky over the River Thames in this photo taken by the RNLI late on Saturday night pic:PA/TOWERRNLI[/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="976"]The sky over Hayling Island, off the south coast of England A dramatic and purple sky was photographed over Hayling Island, off the south coast of England near Portsmouth, as thunderstorms moved northwards across the mainland pic:EMS – HAYLING ISLAND/@AUNTYMEMS[/caption]
Others remarked that they had “never seen a storm quite like this” and said the flashes were “stunning”. Another woman remarked it was “like a rave outside”.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="976"]Andrew Lanxon Hoyle/@Batteryhq of lightning over the the Suleymaniye Mosque in Dalston, east London Bolts light up the sky over the the Suleymaniye Mosque in Dalston, east London pic:ANDREW LANXON HOYLE/@BATTERYHQ[/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="976"]Camden in London ‘It took me ages to get this shot’ said Kate, who photographed the sky over Camden in London pick:KATE/@TEARSCRYNOMORE[/caption]
BBC Weather presenter Tomasz Schafernaker called it the “mother of all thunderstorms” as he watched it over London. “Oh boy! This utterly insane,” he said. “I’ve never seen a storm with such frequent lightning in my life I don’t think. Mostly sheet lightning and not too loud but flashes are spectacular.”
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="976"]Lightning across the sky at Swiss Farm touring and camping Paul Greenford was in a caravan at a campsite in Henley-on-Thames when the heavy rain and lightning storm struck pic:PAUL GREENFORD TYRES/@ATKO80[/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="976"]West Dorset Harry Neary, who began setting up his camera once he noticed the lightning flashes, photographed bolts near the village of Broadwindsor in Dorset Pic:HARRY NEARY/@GRUMPYROCKER[/caption]
Forecaster Gemma Plumb, from BBC Weather, said as the storms push northwards across England throughout Sunday, more are coming up over the English Channel from the continent. The Met Office weather warning for rain is in force until 6:00 BST on Monday and covers all of Wales as well as southern and central England. Flooding of homes and businesses could happen quickly, the Met Office said. It added that fast-flowing or deep floodwater is possible with damage to some buildings from flooding, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds. It comes after a warm Bank Holiday Saturday, with a top temperature of 27.3C in Hurn, Dorset.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="976"]@samueltwilkinson of lightning over The Shard in central London on Saturday A long strike of lightning dwarfs London’s Shard, which stands at 310m pic:@SAMUELTWILKINSON/PA[/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="976"]Lightning strikes above Wembley Stadium in London Lightning strikes above Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday night, where Fulham beat Aston Villa in the Championship play-off final earlier in the day pic:REUTERS[/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="976"]Tredegar The cloudy sky was lit up in purple as lightning struck above Tredegar in south Wales pic:KARL MCCARTHY/@MCCARTHYKARL[/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="976"]London Hundreds of people in London took out their cameras to snap the lightning storm, including in Plaistow, in the east of the capital pic:J/@DXTJXSH[/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="976"]@pamelsaurusrex of lightning over King's Cross in London as two people run to escape the rain Two people run to escape the rain as lightning turns the sky pink over King’s Cross pic:@PAMELSAURUSREX/PA[/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="976"]Bournemouth seafront A streak of lightning cuts across the sky in the distance, over the seafront in Bournemouth pic: STEPH WALKER/@STEPHAWALKER84[/caption]
Source: BBC
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