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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to be terrified of thunderstorms?

37 replies

AlwaysAuntie · 08/09/2022 01:21

Just like the title says really. Have always been scared of thunderstorms, not sure why. We currently have one raging here and am hiding under duvet like all mature 44yr olds do.

OP posts:
Cw112 · 08/09/2022 01:28

Not unreasonable but I love thunderstorms though they are my absolute fave, I love counting between the lightening and the noise and working out how far away it is moving. I will swap you!

Cakeandcoffee93 · 08/09/2022 01:29

Meeeeeeee stems from hearing scary stories about lightening killing kids when I was little
also find them fascinating
also find them loud and scary

ItsNotNormalLove · 08/09/2022 01:31

YABU but we all fear things that other people might think are silly things to be scared of, I certainly do! I love a good thunderstorm myself but you'd laugh at my biggest fears I'm sure.

bruce43mydog · 08/09/2022 01:44

I'm scared of thunderstorms if out side in them. If im in the house or in the car I feel quite safe.

phishy · 08/09/2022 02:27

YABU. The thunderstorms in the UK are usually tame.

We all have our fears though, this one is yours.

APJ1 · 08/09/2022 04:01

I get scared too, although not as much as I did as a child. It's annoying when anyone I'm with starts looking out the window, marvelling at the sights and noise. That makes my fear worse!

APJ1 · 08/09/2022 04:02

What I do - Earplugs and shut all the curtains!

Squeezedsquash · 08/09/2022 04:16

As long as I’m safe inside it’s ok. But my mum was a teacher in the 70s when a child was killed and another seriously injured by a lightning strike moving between blocks at school. Told at an impressionable she I’ve never forgotten it, so yanbu….

Original poster
AlwaysAuntie · 08/09/2022 10:01

Squeezedsquash · 08/09/2022 04:16

As long as I’m safe inside it’s ok. But my mum was a teacher in the 70s when a child was killed and another seriously injured by a lightning strike moving between blocks at school. Told at an impressionable she I’ve never forgotten it, so yanbu….

Oh that's awful!!

OP posts:
Original poster
AlwaysAuntie · 08/09/2022 10:04

Thank you for all your replies. Not sure what the time was when the storm passed over, I actually fell asleep!

OP posts:
AceSpades54321 · 08/09/2022 10:10

Did your parents shout at you loudly when you were a child? Sometimes loud noises trigger me too.

SparklyLeprechaun · 08/09/2022 10:14

I wouldn't like being caught outside in one but I do like looking out of the window at a good thunderstorm when I'm safely inside.

mondaytosunday · 08/09/2022 10:17

Oh my poor mother was terrified of them. She used to hide in the basement. If it had been my dad I would have thought it was a throwback to the bombings in the war but even though she was older she wasn't where there were bombs (both born in the 1920s).
Maybe one of your parents reacted badly and you've picked up your fear from them.

Somethingsnappy · 08/09/2022 10:28

I used to have a terrible phobia (panic attacks etc), but it was because a schoolfriend was killed by lightening when we were teenagers. I was there, as were lots of us (outside, not behaving safely around trees). These days, my phobia has morphed into a bit of an obsession with them. As long as I'm inside, I absolutely love them. I'll get up in the middle of the night to watch them, and am disappointed when forecasts predict them, but get it wrong.

dottiedodah · 08/09/2022 10:44

Feel your pain! As a nervous 50 plus to boot.Soon as the thunder rolls in ,I feel nervous .The lightning though is the very worst.My heart is pounding and I actually screamed and hugged the dog(Shes fine with it thankfully) so if YABU then so am I!

abovedecknotbelow · 08/09/2022 10:54

I love thunderstorms, if I'm inside. Where FIL lives in USA the storms are amazing, but dangerous. Public spaces are cleared when there is a storm in the vicinity eg baseball, outdoor pools, playgrounds etc.

zingally · 08/09/2022 10:58

I love a good thunderstorm!

It stems from my dad, who also loved them, who would stand at the window and oooh and aaaah over every bang and flash!

We all have our fears though. Mine is spiders. I literally shriek.

ofwarren · 08/09/2022 11:04

I hate them too. Made even worse by the fact that a young boy died only recently by lightning strike not far from where we live.
We got caught in one yesterday on the school run. It was just the start and a few odd rumbles but I was terrified. I honestly nearly cried.

KyrieEleison · 08/09/2022 11:04

I am scared and kind of thrilled at the same time! I think it's a natural human thing though - the awesome power of nature - not necessarily based on a bad childhood experience..

(Although I did know kids who had been in Yugoslavia who hated fireworks 😢)

gatehouseoffleet · 08/09/2022 11:06

Not unreasonable at all. Lightning strikes things! It can set houses on fire and make trees fall down on top of things.

I know the risks are small, but I am always glad when a storm moves away.

Same goes for gales, I don't like high winds due to the risk of a tree falling on my house (we are next to a conservation area where you need a dispensation from the Pope to cut a tree down).

YellowPlumbob · 08/09/2022 11:09

I love them, and will sit watching or even go outside.

However, I’ve just moved to under a flight path, and air crash investigations were an obsession of mine in my 20s. Which means I spent last night watching the storm, the planes and FlightRadar to see what they were all doing.

LakieLady · 08/09/2022 11:18

I love them, but I can understand why they can be frightening. I remember being frightened of them as a young child, and have no idea when or why I stopped being scared of them.

Pyewhacket · 08/09/2022 11:36

APJ1 · 08/09/2022 04:02

What I do - Earplugs and shut all the curtains!

My grandmother used to switch the TV off and turn all the mirrors round to face the wall - always made my grandad smile. Happy days, I miss them so much.

Coastalcreeksider · 08/09/2022 11:42

I love thunderstorms, the louder the better, the cat, not so much, he hides in the vegetable basket in the cupboard or jams himself under the tub chair which is quite difficult as he's a big cat.

JudgeJ · 08/09/2022 11:44

AlwaysAuntie · 08/09/2022 01:21

Just like the title says really. Have always been scared of thunderstorms, not sure why. We currently have one raging here and am hiding under duvet like all mature 44yr olds do.

When we lived in a Med area we got some fabulous thunder storms and it was a case of cringe or embrace and I chose the latter! I recall being in bed, curtains open, watching a storm over the bay, it was almost like having a dodgy fluorescent light constantly flickering and the thunder was fantastic. I was so disappointed the other night, one feeble flash, one roll of thunder then nothing!