Entertainment

Amazing slow-motion videos show dramatic scope of East Sussex lightning storm

After a dramatic lightning storm hit Brighton and Eastbourne, residents filmed the weather in slow motion.
After a dramatic lightning storm hit Brighton and Eastbourne, residents filmed the weather in slow motion.

Residents have filmed spectacular slow-motion footage of lightning in East Sussex as parts of the UK experienced torrential rain and stormy weather.

Many smart phones are now equipped with a “slow-motion” feature when filming video, and social media users tested the function as the electrical storm hit.

The Met Office reported that Lenham in Kent saw 42mm of rain in the space of one hour on Tuesday night, while Eastbourne in East Sussex is said to have seen about 1,000 lightning strikes in an hour.

Video on Twitter captured lightning in the East Sussex region, with dramatic forks seen in the slowed-down footage.

Sussex Roads Policing Team described the event as a “spectacular electrical storm”, but warned of potential flooding and power cuts in the area.

Student Nathan Pereira, who filmed the lighting in Maidstone, Kent, said: “It was a bit crazy, never seen anything like it before, the lightning was constant for about half an hour at least, and not much thunder at all.

“It was like there were three or four storms going on around us but we couldn’t really hear it.”

Resident Susan Pilcher said: “It was possibly the most amazing storm I have ever watched. I had seen lightning in the back garden and decided I had to go to Dungeness to watch it as it is so open there.

“I stayed from about 11pm to 1.30am with sheet lightning and fork lightning chasing across the sky and heavy, heavy rain at times. Very exciting.”

Carol Pearce from Eastbourne explained that power cuts affected phone lines and WiFi signal in her area.

She said: “When the strike hit everything went pitch black instantly with an accompanying clap as far as the eye could see across Eastbourne from our house.

“The storm hit quickly, it went from distant flashes over the Channel to a solid sheet of rain and lightning on top of us so fast we hadn’t had a chance to close all the windows in between, and the lightning and thunder were constant for 20 minutes or so, deafening loud and filling the windows on both sides of the house with white.”

A yellow weather warning is in place for thunderstorms across much of the south-east of England, including East Anglia, until 9pm on Wednesday.

The Met Office said: “A warning for thunderstorms remains in force through most of today, with frequent lightning and intense rainfall possible.”

The weekend is set to bring some respite from the recent storms and downpours, with temperatures expected to reach a high of 23C (73F).