Thunderstorms hit west Scotland

Ron Stirling captured this image from his home in Dennistoun, Glasgow

Lightning lit up the skies as Britain's hottest day of the year brought thunderstorms to western Scotland.

For more several hours, Glasgow and the surrounding areas saw torrential rain on Thursday evening.

Forecasters said the conditions had been caused by something similar to a "Spanish plume".

This phenomenon carries very warm air from Spain into France and then on to the south of England, but left Scotland experiencing thunderstorms.

Your pictures of the storm

Fire crews were inundated with calls and had to rescue people trapped in cars and use pumps to ease the effects of flash floods.

Firefighters also had to go to offices and other buildings where the torrential rain had activated fire alarms.

Between 1800 and 2230 BST the service had to deal with 258 emergencies, more than on most Bonfire nights.

Some roads were closed due to flooding and one man had to be rescued from floodwater in Cambuslang.

We asked for your experiences of the storm.

---

Did you see the spectacular storms? You can send your pictures and video to [e-mail], or by clicking here. You can also send us your experiences using the form below.

An audio & visual treat that I have been watching agog for the past few hours. Safe from within my conservatory, the rain is coming down in torrents, hitting the glass roof and making an alarmingly loud noise. Electricity forks are continually lighting the horizon sending my cats fleeing for cover. Even now (23:00) the show is not over yet. A good reminder of how powerful mother nature is!
James Kinghorn, Corkerhill, Glasgow

What a storm! The light and sound show has now passed out of town and may be coming to a town near you very soon indeed. While it was here it was better than anything that the TV or radio could offer (sorry Auntie Beeb!!). I watched & listened in awe as crash of thunder followed flash of lightning. Sometimes the sound of the air being 'fried' by the lighting lingered on for a while making the whole area literally feel electric. A truly remarkable event.
C Newman, Clydebank, Scotland

I played football in it tonight and the gates of the 7-a-side pitches had been locked as they usually are during the games. This caused a lot of alarm for some of the guys around the various pitches. Especially the goalkeepers who were near the floodlights. One group were so concerned they reduced the length of their pitch and put jumpers down for posts. We thought the night was going to go by without incident until one chap who was climbing the fence to retrieve the ball was thrown to the ground by a bolt of lightning that hit the floodlight attached to that particular section of metal fencing. Fortunately the worst that had happened was that his shellsuit appeared to have melted. It was also a pretty dangerous journey back along the flooded roads.
Bobbi Moni, south side, Glasgow

It actually looks like tv footage of troops attacking Baghdad outside my window.
Bob Millar, Langside, Glasgow

Me and my five year old son were in awe at the sheer power of nature, normally in this country we talk about the weather in a day to day sense.. but days and nights like this are few and far between and tonight was electric .. literally
Brian McGuire, Paisley, Scotland

I have never seen anything like that in my life!! It was scary but at the same time fascinating how the sky lit up it was like something out of a movie. And the lightning.....i have never seen forks or strikes of lighting ever. We still have it here and the rain and thunder who knows how long it will go on for...........hopefully not until morning.
Charlotte, Glasgow

It's eerily warm - like Mediterranean warm - and every time it seems the lightening has passed, ten minutes later it starts up again! Definitely the worst / best lightening storm I've seen in ten years here. The local dogs don't like it one bit either!
Allan Moore, Paisley, Scotland

Its AMAZING! I'm a leader at a church youth club, and the storm began when we were outside just chatting! As you can expect with lots of youngsters about, there was excitement at the sights, and mass hysteria about everything that was occurring right above us! We had some flashes of lighting dangerously close, and some of the thunder was really loud too! Naturally, some of the girls were scared, but all part of the drama, that this storm has brought with it! I love it!
Darren, East Kilbride, Glasgow

I'm 21 years old and I have never seen lightning like that in my life I was amazed at the window for about an hour as the storm past.
John, Renfrew

Unusually tropical weather than what you'd normally see in Scotland, this was the most major storm I have witnessed in years, massive fork lightning and thunder that you could feel indoors. Unfortunately I got caught up in the torrential rain that preceded it's onset proper. It has just come back around as I type this, and it's lasted a good few hours.
Angela Suttie, Glasgow

I was out with my friend earlier tonight and fork lightning hit the ground no more than 50ft away. We were nearly blown off our feet.
Ross Chandler, Clydebank

simply amazing !!!!
Peter Gonnella, Glasgow

Fantastic thunderstorm. Only problem is my roof is now leaking! No chance of finding a roofer for a few weeks after the amount of rain.
DB, East Kilbride

Storm has just started again! Haven't seen lightening like this since I was in Florida as a child. The hotel next to us was struck and it was an immensely impressive bang. Have been watching the sheets and forks from the window. Now getting slightly worried about the possibility of the river over the road flooding...
R Wallace, Busby, Glasgow

Well, 3 hours in and it's still blazing, I've never seen a thunderstorm last this long in my life. I'm off to watch 'War of the Worlds' to freak myself out.
H Haggerty, Glasgow

Frighteningly loud & a sight to behold - I haven't seen fork lightning like this in years!
Brian, East Kilbride

The lightning and thunder started at 19:15 and did not really stop until around 22:00. What was really interesting was to watch the weather revolve around itself with the wind going in two different directions at the same time during the peak of the activity, almost resembling the super cells in tornado alley in the USA. It's 22:50 now and it's still giving the odd flash and bang! Fantastic show!
R W, Erskine

Just spectacular! I've counted three storms tonight, the most recent right now at 10.50 as I type this. Some amazing lightning bolts that I don't think I've ever witnessed before - I wish I'd taken some photos.
Craig, East Kilbride

What a wonderful evenings entertainment. Never witnessed so much lightning happening at the same time.
Michael Blair, Paisley

Amazing, saw a lightning strike take out a full block of house lights etc in Parkhall, Clydebank.
Bob Steel, Glasgow

It was the most spectacular storm I have ever encountered. I experienced sheer un-adulterated ecstasy at the sights that met my eyes. The balls of lightning that cracked so loudly, followed by fork and sheet lightning filling the entire sky, was spectacular. The deafening claps of thunder shook the ground. So, the two combined were simply breathtaking. I don't believe I have ever seen a storm as fierce, intense and lengthy in all my life.
Jill Ferguson, Glasgow

Probably the most violent storm I've witnessed in this country! Some scary moments when the thunder actually made my windows rattle!! Constant lighting all over the sky, some really cracking big forks too. All quiet here now.
Colin Sales, Paisley

This was the most incredible thing I have witnessed. A lamppost outside of my house was struck by lightning. The bang was incredibly loud and my power shut off for a few moments. This storm was more amazing than the one I seen in Venice last summer.
M G T, Blantyre, Glasgow

Terms & Conditions