A lightning strike during a severe thunderstorm caused a house fire in Emersons Green, Bristol, on Monday evening, while storms forced the grounding of flights at Bristol Airport, leading to the diversion of 850 passengers to Gatwick.
House Fire in Emersons Green
The roof of a home in Emersons Green became engulfed in flames after being struck by lightning around 22:00 BST on June 22. Neighbours watched in horror as fire consumed the property. A witness reported that fire crews arrived quickly and confirmed all occupants escaped safely.
Videos from the scene, shared by BristolLive, show a fierce fire raging on the roof with thick smoke billowing into the sky. Firefighters are seen attempting to extinguish the flames using a hose.
Flight Disruption at Bristol Airport
Meanwhile, Bristol Airport experienced significant disruption as an extreme thunderstorm warning took effect. According to traffic monitoring service Inrix, flights were grounded at 6:53 PM, with no planes able to take off or land. Passengers were advised to check with their airlines before travelling.
Five flights carrying approximately 850 passengers were diverted to Gatwick Airport. EasyJet reportedly arranged coaches to transport passengers back to Bristol.
Met Office Weather Warning
The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms valid until 9 PM on June 22. The warning highlighted frequent lightning, gusty winds, torrential rain, and possible hail. A spokesperson for the Met Office stated: “An area of thunderstorms moving east across the area will bring a spell of frequent lightning, gusty winds, torrential rain, and a few places, hail. The storms will be moving quickly reducing the potential for widespread large amounts of rain, but there is a few places could see 20-25 mm of rainfall in a short period in the most active storms, which could bring some brief flooding.”
The spokesperson added: “The majority of impacts are likely to come from other hazards however, such as lightning striking buildings and causing power cuts, difficult driving conditions in heavy rain, and some localised damage to vulnerable structures by strong wind gusts or hail.”
Lightning was already observed over Bristol earlier in the evening, and the storms are expected to continue affecting the region.
