‘Skyquake’ Houses ‘shake’ as storm strikes
A“SKYQUAKE” left homes “shaking” in Somerset as winter storms battered the
UK.
People took to social media on Wednesday night to describe a “weird long rumbling noise” heard across the county throughout the day and into the evening.
The noise, accompanied with flashes of lightning, was heard several times before the skies fell quiet. The noise reached right across the area – heard in places from Nailsea to Clevedon and to Weston-superMare .
Some people thought the strange rumblings were to do with Bristol
Airport, while people in Clevedon blamed it on a hardcore delivery to the town’s seafront. Other residents across the district even thought it was an earthquake, while others thought it was heavy lorries passing or bins being emptied.
Others believed the strange rumbling was roadworks while some residents in Wraxall and Clevedon said it made their houses “shake”, describing the accompanying lightning as “crazy”. Rich Pennock, from Clevedon posted: “That’s the loudest I’ve ever heard thunder. My entire house shook.”
Another storm-watcher in Clevedon, Jenni James, posted: “Literally just took the words right out my mouth. No joke, my house just shook.”
The strange weather has been described as a “skyquake”. According to Wikipedia, this is a phenomenon in which a loud booming sound is reported to originate from the sky.
The sound may cause noticeable vibration in a building or across a particular area. Those who experience skyquakes typically do not have a clear explanation for what caused them and they are perceived as “mysterious”.
However, the Met Office said a skyquake was not a “recognised meteorological term” and the noise was just thunder.
It was warning of more thunderstorms as another cold front pushed in across the area yesterday.
A Met Office spokesman said: “There was nothing unusual or extraordinary about the thunder experienced across the area this week. When a cold front comes in, it pushes up the warm air which forms cumulonimbus clouds and the warm air rises.
“This is where the large thunder clouds form and we can expect more of that as another squally cold front starts to push in. It is not unusual to see this sort of weather at this time of year as the mild conditions give way to colder air.”
This weekend will start with widespread heavy rain and strong winds. Rain will be slow to clear on Sunday, but it will become drier and brighter later. It will be mostly dry with sunny spells on Monday.