Clear-up after heavy summer storm

Householders in East Anglia are clearing up after a storm caused flash floods and lightning strikes.

Ipswich railway station in Suffolk was closed and evacuated after a lightning strike damaged a chimney at 1910 BST when the storm hit on Monday.

In Essex, four properties were struck by lightning and there were numerous reports of flooding.

Norfolk had heavy rain and hail, with more than 120 calls to the fire service in three hours.

Lightning strikes

The lightning strike at Ipswich station led to two-hour delays on the Norwich to London line as trains came to a standstill, with a restricted service beginning at 2130 BST.

A passenger waiting at Ipswich station told BBC Radio Suffolk: "There was a just a large bang really very close, very loud, and a flash and then all the fire alarms started going off and they evacuated the station."

Overhead power lines were isolated at Ipswich for safety reasons because of the damage to the station building.

Signalling equipment between Manningtree and Ipswich was also damaged by lightning strikes.

Earlier in the evening there were delays of up to 50 minutes on the line between London and Norwich after signalling problems caused by a lightning strike at Shenfield.

Essex Fire and Rescue Service received nearly 200 calls to flood-related incidents mainly in Brentwood, Harlow, Aveley, South Ockendon, Grays and Clacton.

A terraced house in Hockley Road, Basildon was set alight when lightning struck its roof.

Four schools have been closed because of flooding.

In Norfolk, fire crews were sent to help drain water from the high street in the market town of Watton.

Heachem, Sedgeford and Hingham were also badly affected by the storm, with hail stones leaving what were described as "like snowdrifts" on the sides of the roads.

Stansted and Norwich international airport services were unaffected by the weather.

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