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Londoners experienced one of the biggest electric storms in decades as the skies lit up with lightning strikes for more than an hour.

The capital was hit by the bulk of more than 3,000 strikes nationwide that started about 1.30am and which were followed by torrential rain.

The Met Police helicopter was grounded but its pilots led the way in posting stunning pictures of the skyline. Many others followed, with vivid illustrations of the storms in Westminster, Ealing, Canary Wharf and Greenwich.

July storms 18 show all July storms 1/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@justinstokes_) 2/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@nibl83) 3/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@R_F_Photo) russfrancis.co.uk 4/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Andrew Lanxon Hoyle) 5/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@MPSinthesky) 6/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@Dabzi__) 7/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Rex) REX 8/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Rex) REX 9/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@Dabzi__) 10/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Rex) REX 11/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@davey) 12/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Rex) REX 13/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@beckie0) 14/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@JMBranding) 15/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@mikeyvaughan84) 16/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@anyagrace) 17/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@emperorant_) 18/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@emperorant_) 1/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@justinstokes_) 2/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@nibl83) 3/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@R_F_Photo) russfrancis.co.uk 4/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Andrew Lanxon Hoyle) 5/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@MPSinthesky) 6/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@Dabzi__) 7/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Rex) REX 8/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Rex) REX 9/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@Dabzi__) 10/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Rex) REX 11/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@davey) 12/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Rex) REX 13/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@beckie0) 14/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@JMBranding) 15/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@mikeyvaughan84) 16/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@anyagrace) 17/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@emperorant_) 18/18 Lightning strikes London (Picture: Twitter/@emperorant_)

Londoners took to Twitter to express their amazement, with comments ranging from “spectacular” and “mad” to “the whole road just got lit up” and “the type you see in horror movies”.

Lightning maps showed strikes stretching from the west coast of Ireland to the Isle of Wight and across to the Essex coast.

A family of four was forced to flee their home in Streatham when lightning struck a TV aerial attached to a chimney stack, sparking a fire and sending a brick crashing through their conservatory at 2.30am.

But there was chaos for thousands of rail commuters this morning as problems with signals at Liverpool Street station and overhead cables on the Stansted Express route caused cancellations and long delays.

Travelling conditions were made worse by temperatures expected to peak at 32C — making today the hottest day of the year. More downpours are expected tonight and tomorrow, with forecasters describing conditions as “very warm, humid and uncomfortable”. Yesterday’s highest temperature of 29.5C was recorded in Hampton.

Crystal Palace tower doing its lightning rod thing last night https://t.co/m3Z9zw9MPV #CrystalPalace #london — Deadly Knitshade (@deadlyknitshade) July 18, 2014

Network Rail said “multiple disruptions” were affecting parts of the Great Anglia Network. Passengers reported London-bound trains unable to get past Colchester, while platforms 7-10 could not be used at Liverpool Street. Signalling problems at Romford delayed Shenfield services by an hour.

Further problems across the Greater Anglia network were caused by the soaring temperatures causing rails to warp in the sun, forcing speed restrictions to be introduced. Nick Prebble, of weather forecasters MeteoGroup, said areas of Essex and Greater London could see 32C today, while anywhere from the East Midlands through East Anglia and parts of Kent would likely break the 30C barrier.

He said: “Average temperatures for this time of year are 21C or 22C in Greater London, so we are quite a few degrees warmer than average.”

The changing weather pattern is being triggered by a “Spanish plume” of unstable air moving into the UK from the south.

Public Health England said a health warning for those who were not fit and healthy remained in place. The Environment Agency has also said there is a risk of localised flooding over the weekend.