House destroyed after being struck by lightning in thunderstorm

VIDEO: A London home has been wrecked after it was directly struck by lightning last night

(REX)

A London home was struck by lightning last night as electrical storms ravaged the UK.

The house’s roof was almost totally destroyed by what must have been a direct hit on the home.

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Antonio Sione, a neighbour who witnessed the lightning from his own home nearby, said: “All at once something came down like fire and made big noise and blew up.”

As the storms moved across the country there were major traffic disruptions as damaged power lines affected train providers, with BBC Weather reporting that lightning struck more than 3,000 times in just two hours.

The extreme weather arrived in Cornwall at around 7 or 8pm last night, before gradually moving northwards and eastwards towards London, where much of the city heard the storm last night.

Mr Sione described the sound when the house was hit as being “like a bomb”.

The local resident said he couldn’t believe how quickly the flames and smoke spread, commenting: “Everybody heard the noise, everybody ran here because it was terrible - there was so much smoke.”

He finished by saying he “couldn’t believe” what he had seen.

No one was hurt in the blaze.

The Met office has warned there could be more extreme weather on the way at the weekend, with thunderstorms forecast for Saturday.