Roof of house destroyed by lightning as weekend of thunderstorms begins

A yellow weather warning has been issued for the whole south coast all weekend.

A house in Hampshire has had its roof completely caved in after being struck by lightning.

Thunderstorms are expected across England all weekend, with the Met Office issuing yellow weather warnings for the whole south coast until Sunday midnight.

Firefighters rushed to the house on Mercia Avenue in Andover, some 30 miles north of Southampton, as flames spread between two semi-detached houses early this morning.

A 70-year-old woman was assessed by paramedics but didn’t need hospital treatment, while a witness describes seeing neighbours escaping unharmed.

Barrie Austen, 79, said: ‘There was this enormous bang, it was obviously the lightning, I think it woke the rest of the street up.

‘I saw the flickering and when I looked out I saw the roof of the semi-detached house completely ablaze and it had completely gone.

‘The side that supports the roof, that collapsed as well and then the flames spread into next door.’

He said that two sisters live at the property and one was checked over by ambulance crews.

He added: ‘She seemed shaken but seemed OK, no real physical problems. I think the lightning hit the roof, woke them up and they just got out.’

Storms this weekend follow a sweltering heatwave for much of the UK this week, which saw temperatures exceeding 30°C.

Parts of the country were put on alert for wildfires, while the Met Office issued its first ever extreme heat warning.

Now rain clouds have made their way in, the Met Office has warned of flooding and transport disruption in some places.

‘There’s also a risk of large hail falling in a few locations and where heavy downpours occur, up to 35 mm could fall within an hour,’ the Met Office added.

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