House destroyed by fire after lightning strike in East Dunbartonshire

Family of four escape after being alerted to blaze by neighbours

The roof of a detached house stands ablaze following a lightning strike. @impaulharper

A lightning strike set a house on fire which went on to destroy the property near Glasgow.

As flames tore through the home in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, residents in neighbouring properties watched and posted photos of the scene on social media.

The blaze could be seen burning through the roof.

The resident family - a couple and two children - managed to safely escape after neighbours alerted them to the blaze.

"There are no reports of any casualties and we are still at the scene," a spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said.

"We are in attendance. We received a call that a house in Kirkintilloch was struck by lightning at 5.45pm on Saturday evening,” they said.

The lightning strike came as parts of the Scotland were hit by hail storms and torrential downpours.

There were reports of flash flooding in the north of Glasgow at Bishopbriggs while large hailstones stopped traffic earlier in the day on the M9 near Stirling.

A Met Office yellow warning for heavy rain and slow-moving thunderstorms was in place until 9pm on Saturday.