Lightning Hits House In Newry

[martinastro]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11481741

Lightning from the big storms on Tues hit a house in Newry, Co. Down blowing a hole in the roof, smashing windows, exploding sockets, and even lifting a 4x4 off the ground. The lady was interviewed on TV today who said the hail stones were like golf balls. I was on this storm around the time this happend and can confirm it was a nasty cell with gusty winds and very intense precip accompanied by loud thunder. It also produced a funnel cloud further N. Images below...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11481744

[JohnC]

With that amount of damage I wonder if it was a positively charged bolt ?

[martinastro]

I was thinking the same thing John - a positive bolt could do that (as you know) so maybe that's what happened. The 4x4 lifting off the ground is quite something, I've never heard of that before.