Britain was battered by more than 63,000 lightning strikes in just 24 hours as ferocious thunderstorms swept across the country overnight, striking landmarks including Stonehenge, Chesil Beach and The Needles, even as a record-breaking third consecutive day of red extreme heat warnings pushed temperatures toward 38C.
The Met Office confirmed the extraordinary lightning count in the 24 hours to 10am on Friday, warning that many more strikes could follow through the day and into Saturday. Stunning photographs captured bolts hitting Stonehenge in Wiltshire, Fistral Beach in Cornwall and The Needles on the Isle of Wight, while videos shared from Manchester, Edinburgh and Somerset showed extraordinary storm displays in the early hours, including footage of horizontal lightning.
The storms caused real damage on the ground. A lightning strike set fire to a nursing home in Glastonbury just after midnight, with fire crews evacuating three people and one person taken to hospital. Around 25 residents remained inside St Benedict’s Nursing Home in Somerset as smoke was seen billowing from the second floor.
Despite the dramatic overnight storms, temperatures never fell to comfortable levels. It was another “tropical night” across much of the country, with the UK’s overnight low recorded at 22.7C in Herstmonceux, West Sussex — far above the 20C threshold that defines a tropical night. By 9am, Heathrow Airport had already reached 30.5C.
Thursday set yet another June record, with 36.7C recorded in Merryfield, Somerset — a day after 36.1C was set in Gosport, Hampshire on Wednesday, which had itself broken the longstanding record of 35.6C dating back to 1976. Thursday also matched the UK’s seventh hottest day ever, equalling a temperature recorded in Northamptonshire in 1911 that had stood as the country’s hottest day for nearly 80 years. If Friday’s expected high of 38C is reached, it would become the fifth hottest day ever recorded in the UK and set a new June record for the third consecutive day.
Yellow thunderstorm warnings have been issued for north-east England, most of Scotland and Northern Ireland, alerting residents to the risk of flooding, lightning strikes, hail and strong winds. The Met Office said further updates to warnings remained possible as the situation evolved.
The human and economic toll of the heatwave continues to mount. Thousands of schools and nurseries have closed, with some asking parents to collect children early on Friday as classroom temperatures became unmanageable. South East Water has introduced a hosepipe ban in Kent as demand surged. Rail operators across the network are urging passengers to make only essential journeys, with at least one operator explicitly advising people against travelling to the beach.
