US weather: Forked lightning fills the sky in Florida

Videos of the amazing event were shared online.

Dramatic forked lightning lit up the Florida sky as a line of thunderstorms passed through the area.

As storms moved over Alabama and the western Florida panhandle on Sunday evening, a resident captured the stunning moment.

Local man Matt Oz shared footage online, writing on Twitter of the “unreal” lightning he had witnessed near Perdido Key, Florida.

“Like spiderwebs across the sky”, Mr Oz wrote.

Earlier that same day, the National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning for a swathe of Alabama after gathering storms dumped more than 1.55 inches over the course of an hour.

Ultimately, weather forecasters cancelled the warning as the storms migrated offshore.

But residents across multiple states still testified online to astonishing light shows in the sky.

A National Weather Service meteorologist based in Mobile, Alabama called the display “unreal”.

By Tuesday morning, a grey blanket of clouds had massed in the sky above Pensacola Beach, Florida.

Powerful thunderstorms were expected to continue moving across Alabama - which borders Florida and sits along the Gulf of Mexico - bringing prolific lightning and heavy rain.

Residents were urged to seek shelter indoors until the storms passed.