SPECTACULAR lightning flashes lit up the sky on Monday night during a violent storm that played havoc with power supplies.

Thousands of homes were blacked out across the region and in some parts the storm was accompanied by heavy rain.

Residents in Marske were among those affected during the lightning. Some homes were without electricity from 11pm on Monday night until Tuesday morning.

A Met Office spokesman said: "You can get storms in the middle of winter, but they are far more common during the summer when there is day time heating. I wouldn't say it was remarkable. The summer has been characterised by heavy localised downpours of rain that cause flooding.

"People remember those and forget about the good days. We haven't had an extended period of dry sunny weather, which people expect, but it has been a fairly average summer overall."

l Flood risk warning - See Page 1