Heads up for those in SE - active thunderstorms

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Just come back in to see it all go mad on the weather front in the SE. Be aware that the developing storms may produce damaging hail, flash flooding, c-g strikes (unplug those pcs if there is a storm about) and strong squally winds.

Gah that was child's play. A couple of really loud cracks about 3 minutes of heavy rain and pah it's gone.

I wanted a really good storm. Even ran around shutting all the windows in preparation.

that was handy nickelbabe!

How disappointing FIMBO :(

some really good echos still showing up, Eastbourne(ish) then a line southend up through norfolk. A good cluster around the wash and up the coast a bit from there. not over yet for some people

I can hear it again rumbling away in the distance. Maybe it will come back for another go later. It would be good if it did to save me going out to a meeting that I am not that inclinde to go to :)

Kent storms in the news

oh crumbs bemondsey tower block on fire

Gatwick control tower hit

row of terranced houses hit and on fire

:(

a bit of sharp pull up for me personally. I love storms, but it is a stark reminder that the met office and torro warnings are not a heads up for fun and games but actually there to save lives and to prepare emergency services..

terraced - not terranced.

it was handy but not good to see - it's leaking into the wall of the back upstairs room, and now i know that it's backing up, i have no idea how to fix it :(

:( to all those fire stories - they jsut had a couple on the news, too.

we've just had a 2 hour thunderstorm in Brighton, sports day was abandoned half way through and we got drenched on the way home.

Blue skies now, but the thunder is still rumbling around

My friend in Stevenage (near London colney) saw lightening strike a lamp post

I feel bad now for wanting a "proper" storm. Hope everyone effected with fires etc/storm damage is ok.

Hampshire here, dark all day, but no storm yet.

oh crumbs Maris - must have given your friend a hell of a fright.
Seems to have been very very electrically active in places.

nickelbabe - daft question - have you had your gutters cleaned?

Fimbo, its a hard balancing act isnt it, it is really interesting and exciting to see nature to be so active but it is awful when it affects peoples lives so badly.

cripes BadKitten, a friend said they saw lightening and then smoke. Must have been that link.

oh gosh Marsha.
This has been one of the worst outbreaks of lightning damage I can remember.

Hope your friend isnt feeling too shaky.

I heard thunder earlier but not seen any lightening I can see the very south-east is getting lots though.

link

I know the trains around here are disrupted due to lightening strike.

my parents' computer all stopped working - they've had to get their computer man out to fix them. They lost electricity and all phone signal too

ahhh WoTmania - I always bang on about computers and storms (after half our street lost theirs plus tellys and phones after a strike on the street once)

radar returns for Eastern EA very impressive too OddBoots - seems to be miving out now. Hope they've all fared ok.

If your pc means a lot to you then its worth considering something like this UPS (I have one similar) It isnt fool proof (I think if a house had a direct hit then not a lot will stop it other than unplugging) but probably ok for a nearby strike. Also very useful for brownouts and blackouts - they keep the pc going while a controlled shut down can occur.

Oh no sorry BadKitten! I meant across the streets in the general area, they were gazing out the window. I don't know anyone in the buildings. They were wondering what had happened.

:) cool.

oooh, we have one of those I think. the folks probably do to but this one was right on top of them -