London: No one does special effects quite like Mother Nature — and right now she is treating Britain to the daddy of all lightning storms.
In one of the most breathtaking displays in living memory, the heavens are being torn open by dazzling bolts of lightning.
Crazy patterns form in night skies; landscapes are brilliantly illuminated by billion-watt flashes. In a seldom seen phenomenon, many of the supercharged bursts of energy can be seen streaking horizontally from cloud to cloud as well as vertically to the ground.
It might not quite have been apocalyptic, as some observers described it after witnessing storms through the early hours.
But it did herald impending doom for the heatwave most of the nation has been enjoying (yesterday was the hottest day of the year for the second day running, with the mercury hitting 32.2C (90F) in Gravesend, Kent).
More than 3,500 lightning strikes were recorded across the UK, 1,300 of them in the space of three hours.
They brought with them another of nature’s spectacular tricks — thunder, followed by fierce downpours. Plus, of course, a restless night for countless households that went to bed with the windows open in the heat.
Not that any of this came as a bolt from the blue, so to speak. The Met Office had been forecasting storms for days. The big surprise for ordinary observers was the sheer intensity.
An electrical extravaganza hit the south-west and south coasts overnight before moving up country. At St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall, the silhouette of the tidal island resembled something from a horror film.
From across the Solent, storm-chasing photographer Jamie Russell captured streaks of lightning dancing on the Isle of Wight. In London, landmarks were lit up — and occasionally struck — by massive-voltage bolts. Farther north, the storms began to ease as dawn broke.
Anyone who missed the show, however, need not worry. A repeat performance was forecast for many areas for the early hours of today and through tomorrow.
Although temperatures will remain high, torrential downpours and storms, some bringing hail and flash floods, are expected to drown any hopes of a weekend spent sunbathing.
The Environment Agency warned that more than an inch of rain could fall in an hour in some areas.
The current outbreak of lightning is being caused by the so-called Spanish Plume of warm, humid air from the continent. When that hits colder air, atmospheric temperature drops, bringing storms.
