Family hit by lightning as f loods strike
THUNDERSTORMS and torrential downpours caused chaos across the UK yesterday with flooding and hailstones marking an end to the heatwave.
In Northern Ireland, a father and his two young children were left fighting for their lives after being hit by a bolt of lightning during a school sports day in Belfast.
In London, cars were left submerged in residential streets and houses set ablaze by lightning strikes.
Meanwhile in Scotland, a house was hit by lightning and train services were disrupted due to water on the line as a severe weather warning issued by the Met Office – which was originally valid until 9pm last night – was extended till 6am today.
A humid morning – with balmy temperatures across Scotland – ended in torrential rain in parts, including Penicuik, Midlothian, where Mauricewood Primary School was among several properties that had to be pumped out due to flooding. The town’s swimming pool also had to be closed for the day.
Standing water affected the A68 at Camptown, south of Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, where temporary traffic lights had to be installed because of the deluge.
Train services between Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness were disrupted through the evening rush hour because of signalling problems caused by flood water between Perth and the Highland capital.
In Mayfield, Midlothian, firefighters were called to a house after it was hit by lightning. No one was injured, although five Scottish Fire and Rescue vehicles were sent to deal with roof damage.
A funnel cloud was also pictured over homes in the area, with a Twitter user captioning it: ‘An image of the twister in Bonnyrigg! Crazy weather here in Scotland!’
Previously, the Met Office had issued yellow ‘be aware’ warnings for severe weather. Forecasters had predicted as much as two inches of rain (50mm) could fall in the space of a few hours. Grahame Madge of the Met Office said: ‘The day contained all ingredients for dramatic thunderstorms: moist air and high temperatures allowing air to rise and create stormy conditions.
‘We can see from the development of storms in Scotland, there was particularly high activity from Fife in an arc up to the West Highlands. From 2pm to 3pm, things were particularly active over the Highlands.’
The slow-moving storms were expected to continue during the evening into this morning. The warning said the isolated heavy, thundery showers would turn locally torrential and become more widespread through the evening, ‘perhaps lasting through the night in some areas.’ It added: ‘Whilst most places will miss the worst, please be aware of the risk of localised flooding, with lightning presenting an additional hazard.
‘This warning has been updated to adjust the yellow area, increase the likelihood of some isolated medium impacts, and also to extend the validity period through to Wednesday morning.’ Unsettled conditions now lie ahead.
It comes after a taste of summerlike conditions that saw Plockton, Ross-shire, record the highest Scots temperature of the year so far with 81.8f (27.7c) on May 9, as the country enjoyed high temperatures and unbroken sunshine.
But a low pressure system moving in over Scotland towards the end of the week will bring cooler conditions and rain in time for the weekend.