Engineers are working to reconnect hundreds of households in north-east England hit by a power cut in a lightning storm during Wednesday’s searingly hot temperatures.

The thunderstorm left 40,000 homes without electricity in parts of North Yorkshire, County Durham, Tyne and Wear and Northumberland. Northern Powergrid said power had been restored to 32,500 of its customers by 7pm and work was continuing to make sure the rest were connected by Thursday afternoon.

Spectacular lightning swept across northern England and Scotland after the hottest July day on record in many places. Scores of motorists pulled over to watch as the storm moved up the Pennines. In Sheffield, people drove out of the city to watch a huge cloud flash with almost continuous lightning but without thunder or rain.

In the village of Worrall, Rick Taylor said: “I’ve not seen anything like this before, it’s amazing. It’s exactly like that scene in Close Encounters of the Third Kind when the spaceship is approaching.”

Elsewhere, huge hailstones caused damage in parts of North Yorkshire and County Durham and the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation even issued a tornado warning for parts of the Midlands.



Jonny Bradbrook, of Ravensworth Nurseries, Richmond, North Yorkshire, said his business was a scene of devastation after huge hailstones smashed thousands of planes of glass in his greenhouses.

He said the storm arrived at around 9pm on Wednesday and only lasted for 20 minutes, but left thousands of pounds of damage.

“I’ve never known anything like it. They were as big as golf balls. I think there might be 5,000 panes gone but I’ll know for sure later,” he said. “We’ve had floods before but nothing like this. There was no rain, just hail and thunder.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lightning over the Angel of the North. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Forecasters predicted some respite on Thursday from the soaring temperatures, which caused roads to melt and rail service cancellations on Wednesday. However, parts of south-east England could still see the mercury rise to around 26C (79F) and the heatwave looks set to continue into the weekend. Western parts of England and Wales could see heavy showers.

“A warm and muggy start and rather cloudy with showery rain spreading to some areas, with a few thundery showers,” said the Met Office. “Becoming drier and brighter later in the day. Another very warm day, not quite as hot as Wednesday. Maximum temperature 27C.”

Moderate levels of air pollution are expected to remain in the southern and eastern areas of England throughout Thursday and Friday before subsiding over the weekend, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.



Earlier it had warned those vulnerable to the effects of pollution to be cautious as the high temperatures caused levels to rise. Urgent health warnings were issued in response to the heatwave and paramedics dealt with a surge in calls amid fears the hot weather could result in deaths.

The London Ambulance Service said it had seen callouts to people fainting increase by more than a third (35%) compared with the same day last week, and a 28% rise in overall calls during the period.

Players at Wimbledon sweltered in the heat and a ball boy was treated on court after he collapsed on the tournament’s hottest ever day. The Met Office said temperatures hit a record high 36.7C in Heathrow on Wednesday afternoon, making London hotter than Miami, LA and Rome. That broke the previous record of 36.5C set on 19 July 2006 in Wisley, Surrey.

Firefighters warned people against trying to cool off in open water after a man died trying to rescue a young girl who got into trouble in a river. The 32-year-old swam into the river Esk at Longtown, Cumbria, to help the girl after she got into difficulties on Tuesday. She was saved but the man, from Carlisle, disappeared at 4.15pm.