Shocking moment lightning strikes home and sparks 'explosion' - as neighbours are forced to evacuate

This is the shocking moment lightning struck a home and sparked an explosion - causing neighbours to evacuate the area.

Firefighters and police were called to Bambury Street in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, on Saturday to move people away from the scene and put a cordon up.

Now security camera footage shows the very moment lightning looks to have hit the propertys roof just before 5:25pm. 

In the 10-second clip lightning lights the skies as a loud exploding noise echoes around the neighbourhood as a bright yellow flash comes from the roof in what looks like flames. 

Last night a cordon went up as Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service said they expected to be at the scene for some time.

Security camera footage shows the very moment lightning looks to have hit the propertys roof just before 5:25pm on Saturday

Firefighters and police were called to Bambury Street in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, yesterday to move people away from the scene and put a cordon up following the explosion

Severe lightning above houses in Great Oakley in Corby, Northamptonshire, on Sunday

Surrounding properties were evacuated after hearing a massive bang. 

One witness said a motorist had stopped and told them the homes roof was on fire. The incident came at a time where the city was under a yellow warning for thunderstorms.

One neighbour said: Wed only just got home. It was about 5:30pm and we heard a massive bang. A car stopped outside and the driver shouted that the roof was on fire. I think about four homes, including ours, were evacuated. 

Weve all been sat in one of the neighbours houses.

Last nights conditions saw around 1,700 homes across north Staffordshire left without power with scores of properties also witnessing problems with their water supplies. A number of key roads were also left submerged after heavy rain.

Today a yellow warning for rain is in place while a flood warning and flood alerts are in place for parts of north Staffordshire.

Thunderstorms and heavy rain are expected to  persist across parts of the UK as summer officially comes to an end. 

The autumn equinox takes place today - marking the end of summer and the start of autumn. 

A Met Office map shows which areas are affected this afternoon after 12pm 

A man sheltering with an umbrella next to his dog on Wimbledon common, south west London, this morning 

A Range Rover driving in a puddle at the Braywick roundabout in Maidenhead this morning 

People walking on Wimbledon common, south west London, after heavy rain this morning

People running past a puddle on South Bank, central London, this morning 

Flooding in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, after a thunderstorm in the area on Friday

A flooded car park in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, after a thunderstorm in the area on Friday

A weather warning has been in place lasting all of Sunday for Wales and central south-west England, while two more will come into force on Monday, stretching to cover areas further east and further north. 

Thunder and lightning, hail and rain struck various parts of the country on Saturday, including Luton, Bedfordshire, St Albans in Hertfordshire, and Cornwall, with heavy downpours in London, Wales and Birmingham. 

Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said: With Sunday marking the autumnal equinox summer has now officially come to an end, and it ended with a bang for some of us. 

Weve seen some very heavy showers and thunderstorms spreading their way in across southern areas of England, into parts of Wales as well during the course of today.

This evening, those will continue to rumble their way on a bit, spreading again into parts of Midlands, Wales, then maybe just clipping the far south of Northern Ireland as well.

Into the early hours of tomorrow morning well also see our next batch of thundery rain moving its way into southern areas of England as well.

He added: We do then have a rain warning in force throughout Sunday for this band of rain thats going to be moving across Wales, central southern areas of England.

Some very heavy pulses are possible with some surface water issues, travel disruption, so it is worth taking care if you are out and about or travelling during the day.

WHY DOES LIGHTNING STRIKE?

Lightning occurs when strong upward drafts in the air generate static electricity in large and dense rainstorm clouds.

Parts of the cloud become positively charged and others negatively charged.

When this charge separation is large enough a violent discharge of electricity happens — also known as lightning.

Lightning is a major hazard that claims many lives every year, the UNs World Meteorological Organization says

Such a discharge starts with a small area of ionised air hot enough to conduct electricity.

This small area grows into a forked lightning channel that can reach several miles in length.

The channel has a negative tip that dispels charges to the ground and a positive tip that collects charges from the cloud. 

These charges passes from the positive end of the channel to the negative end another during a lightning flash, causing the charge to be released.