US weather: Flash floods hit Washington DC and Boston, as dramatic video shows lightning strike on boat

Video shows an explosion as lightening strikes boat in Boston

(Boston 25 News Screenshot)

Flash floods and big rain storms have hit major metropolitan areas across the United States, leaving cars in the currents and drivers stranded in rivers where there were roads — and providing dramatic footage of lightning strikes.

The floods and heavy storms were seen in Washington and Boston, with the former coming after heavy rains drenched the area around the nation’s capital, leaving those drivers in dangerous situations as trees fell elsewhere.

In Boston, a powerful storm that swept through Massachusetts on Saturday led the National Weather Service to issue a warning for heavy rainfall and flooding.

And, as that storm came through, one individual was able to take a video of the moment lightning struck a boat in a harbour.

The owner was not on board, and nobody was injured, according to local media.

The flooding in Washington, meanwhile, has occurred both on local roads and closer in towards the heart of US government, with one father seen in a video carrying his two daughters through the floods to safety nearby.

In another video, floodwaters in the centre of the city showed floodwaters reaching up halfway over bike wheels, as cars made their way through the muddy waters.