THAT’S A LIGHTNING END TO THE HEATWAVE!

A STREAK of lightning flashes across the sky above the seaside resort of Weymouth in Dorset as thunderstorms battered Britain yesterday, replacing the heatwave with torrential rain and flash floods.

In Hampshire, a 70-year-old woman had a lucky escape when lightning started a fire that severely damaged two houses in Andover. The bolt blasted a hole in the roof of her house but she was unharmed.

Neighbour Barrie Austen, 79, said: ‘There was this enormous bang. It was obviously the lightning. It woke up the street.

‘I saw the flickering and when I looked out, I saw the roof of the semi-detached house completely ablaze.’ In Liverpool, homeowners awoke to widespread flooding.

More heavy rain is expected across southern England today, with as much as 4in (100mm) predicted in some areas, prompting yellow weather warnings from the Met Office.

Forecasters said some parts of England could also see winds of up to 55mph, particularly along exposed coasts and in hilly regions.

A Met Office spokesmen warned ‘some coastal routes, sea fronts and coastal communities may be affected by spray and/or large waves’ and ‘some damage may be caused to temporary summer structures’.