Lightning illuminates Midland skies
Spectacular lightning illuminated the sky across the Black Country overnight as heavy storms rolled in amid a prolonged heatwave.
Residents captured the lightning flashes as thunder and heavy downpours struck from the south coast right to the north of England, as the weather front swept north into Scotland.
Rik Freeman photographed the 'amazing lightning' above his home in Wren's Nest, Dudley, and said it was one of the most impressive storms he had seen in the UK in years.
Keeping an eye - and an ear - out for the storm having seen the weather reports, Mr Freeman said it was a case of setting his DSLR camera up on the windowsill when he saw a flash about midnight, pointing it in the right direction, and hoping for the best.
He said: "I just watched the events unfold in front of me. It was unbelievable - at one point the sky was flashing three or four flashes per second. It was crazy."
He packed up his gear about 2:30am, after capturing one last strike: "There was one big one, its parting shot before the storm subsided."
The 50-year-old truck driver said photography is a bit of a hobby of his, particularly during his travels throughout Europe.
The last big thunder storm he had witnessed in the UK was in North London 30 years ago, he said, so capturing the weekend's display had been 'quite a big wait'.
Forecasters had predicted another stormy night before a return to above average temperatures over the weekend, punctuated by more patchy storms.
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The Met Office has issued a yellow "be aware" severe weather warning for England and southern Scotland, which runs to noon today, and warned of possible "localised surface water flooding" caused by torrential rain.
It follows a week which saw the hottest July day on record, with the highest temperature recorded on Wednesday 36.7C (98.1F) at Heathrow, breaking the record for a July day, while many other places broke the 30C (86F) mark.
John Griffiths, a forecaster for MeteoGroup, said: "Thundery showers covered from the north of England down to London and there have been quite a few lightning strikes in London and the south coast, as well as in Wales.
"The front came in an arc through Ireland to London via the north of England.
"It's going to stay pretty showery on Sunday with sunny spells and thundery outbreaks most likely in the South West and most of the west coast."
Fork and sheet lightning were seen in other areas including London, Bournemouth, Southampton and Surrey as social media buzzed with people sharing their lightning pictures.
