Britain Blitzed by 7,000 Lightning Strikes in One Day

The England World Cup squad playing a friendly in Miami weren't the only ones affected by lightning yesterday. Back home, the UK was blitzed by an estimated 7,000 lightning strikes which damaged homes and trees across the country, along with 10 days' worth of rain, which fell in just a few hours.

Three homes were damaged by lightning strikes including one in South Molton, Devon, which was set on fire. Several fire crews went to tackle the blaze. Devon and Somerset Fire Service said: "The cause of the fire was a lightning strike. The roof and first floor of the property were severely damaged. The ground floor sustained severe water damage."

Worst hit by rain was Sutton Downham in Suffolk, where 18.2mm fell in an hour. The Met Office forecasts heavy, thundery showers over the next few days and has issued a yellow warning – meaning "be aware" – for Wales today due to the storms. The Environment Agency has five flood alerts in place – one in the north-east, four in the south-east.

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4,000 miles away in Miami, the World Cup warm-up match between England and Honduras had to be suspended for 40 minutes when severe electrical storms were thought to pose a danger to players. The match itself ended in a dour 0-0 draw. There had been fears that the electrical storms may delay the team's flight to Brazil today but their plane landed safely in Rio de Janeiro ahead of the tournament next week.

Meanwhile, footage emerged of a lightning strike in the United States which appears to demonstrate why sheltering under a tree in a storm is rarely a good idea. The footage, from Saratoga Spa State Park in New York State, shows a lightning strike zap a tree in a car park. Part of the tree then falls down. Fortunately, no one was hurt.