Birmingham house on fire after being 'struck by lightning' as UK battered by storms
The Met Office warned of thundery showers following a weekend marked by hot temperatures.
A house in Birmingham was reportedly struck by lightning during a storm on Monday, prompting a large emergency services to rush to the scene.
Police, ambulance and fire services rushed to Greenvale Avenue, Sheldon at around 11am on Monday following reports of an incident.
Pictures from the scene, near Birmingham Airport, show a house with a severely damaged roof.
Fire crews were seen blasting water into the home from a hydraulic platform following the apparent strike. One person is understood to have been taken to hospital though it's not clear if they were from the affected house, BirminghamLive reported.
West Midlands Police, Fire Service and Ambulance Service remained on the scene this afternoon.
The storm came amid a Met Office warning of thundery showers following the weekend's warm weather.
Neighbours described hearing a bang like an explosion and the sound of electrics blowing. Flames were then reportedly seen billowing from the roof of the property.
Speaking to BirminghamLive, Bickenhill station commander and incident commander Rob Norman said: "We had a really early response. Crews were here within five minutes.
"On arrival they found a roof space on fire which we believe was down to a number of lightning strikes in the area. That's not confirmed.
"There were four fire appliances in attendance. Fire officers were extremely proactive in their initial response meaning the fire didn't spread from the first property (in a terrace of four)".
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"It's the early actions of those crews that stopped the fire spreading," Mr Norman continued. "We also had a hydraulic platform and a drone unit in use.
"We had multiple crews in breathing apparatus. They contained the fire to the initial property. It has smoke damage to the entire property but the fire has been contained to the roof area. Within half an hour before I got here the fire was out due to assertive fire fighting.
"Any fire in a domestic property is treated as a category one incident to which we respond assertively to save life. This property has severe damage to the roof.
"It's a council property and once our work is complete we will hand it back to Birmingham City Council. At the moment our crews are damping down and cutting away."
The Met Office said there could be some isolated afternoon thunderstorms in eastern England on Monday, as much of the south bakes in hot and humid conditions.
According to the agency's current forecast, Monday is expected to be, "Cooler in the north with spells of heavy rain and thunderstorms during the morning."
It added: "Another warm and humid night in southeast England, but feeling fresher elsewhere. Mostly dry and clear at first, but cloud and patchy rain pushes into the west after midnight."
Meanwhile, flood alerts issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) remain in place in Dundee and Angus, Findhorn, Nairn Moray and Speyside, and Orkney.
