Lightning storms hit UK: Kept awake by the storms? This map shows the astounding number of strikes

Amid a prolonged heatwave sweltering Britons have suffered a sleepless night

Spectacular lightning storms were witnessed across the UK (LightningMaps.org CC BY-SA 4.0 / Lightning data by Blitzortung.org and its participants)

If you were kept awake last night by lightning storms, you weren't alone.

Spectacular thunder and lightning shows were witnessed across the UK - by some estimates there were as many as 30,000 lightning strikes.

The image above from LightningMaps.org shows just some of them from midnight on Friday.

Alongside the lightning, heavy rain led to high rainfall totals over the last 12 hours.

Swanage saw 27mm of rain in one hour between 10pm and 11pm, according to the Met Office - just over half a month's rain in one hour.

Storms earlier in the week saw golf-ball-sized hailstones cause damage to cars and greenhouses, all amid the hottest July temperatures on record.

Temperatures on Wednesday reached nearly 37C.

High temperatures looked set to continue on Saturday, with the Met Office predicting "very warm" conditions in the south and east and possibly more thundery weather again tonight.