neil_b

And to think I'm out of town and missing this - how is it comparing to May 9th last year?? I'm actually sat in Leek, Staffs so what are my chances of seeing some of this?

Here's a single frame from that strike

Here's my video of the storm that passed over Bridgnorth in Shropshire at about 20:00 this evening It's certainly the best storm I've seen in the UK in the last 10 years

She didn't like her first thunderstorm very much I guess :-D Seriously she hid under the car in the garage howling like that for ages, I had to stop filming and try to coax her into the house. She's Siamese so a bit more vocal than most.

Here's my video from Bridgnorth this evening There's a close strike off camera at 02:08 and if you watch the last 3-4 minutes there are several really good C-C lightning strikes

I'm sat in bed with my 6 year old, she's totally and utterly freaked ! It would be nice to get more though. Just watching some of my videos and I have some really cracking shots - will post soon.

I've got about half an hour of footage in 1080p, let me work out how to shrink and upload it and I will share. What an absolutely epic storm. Kain how did you fare?

bloody hell what just passed over Bridgnorth - I've never seen anything like it !!!!

Not quite native but have lived here for 3-4 years now... I have a great view of the cell towards Wolves... just went for a wander in the garden and noticed the cloud tops over in the ESE direction towards Ludlow... there are some great cloud formations in all directions.

Indeed Kain... here's hoping for some action. My place overlooks the river towards the East and it's definitely dark and ominous looking with frequent rumbles.

You could be right, it's raining in Shropshire. It started just as I crossed the county border travelling West from the Black Country. It felt very warm stepping outside from the AC of the car into the rain. Is it set to get heavier then?

Not the only ones guys... I'm watching with interest from Shropshire... but then again I'm setting off for Cardiff in the next few hours and planning to take a more easterly route through Worcs/Glos. Lets hope things start kicking off further North and into South Wales. Can anyone predict what time this front should move over the Cardiff area as I'll want to set an alarm, can't open hotel windows and knowing me I'll sleep right through it.

Just chatting to my wife at home in Bridgnorth and she reports distant thunder, from her description it sounds as though its to the Wolverhampton direction. I'm in Cardiff and there's nothing interesting going on here.

Guys - thanks for the responses. Just to give you an update I arrived in Las Vegas on Thursday and drove up the I15 into Utah that evening. We passed up through some heavy showers in the desert and I saw a bit of lightning. I noticed as Roger said that the storms clinged to the side of the mountains. Anyway I've now been in Utah (near Provo) for the last few days and the weather is beautiful. Clear skies and 90-100F. Our hosts claim there hasn't been rain for weeks and that it's too dry for storms to develop. We're off to Bear Lake (Utah / Idaho border) on Monday for a few nights camping and after that I'm likely to return to this area. We're not going to drive down to AZ / Monument Valley / Grand Canyon / etc. until after next week when we take an extended tour back down to Las Vegas. So the question is what am I likely to see here for the next few weeks? The weather seems to be very settled and no sign of afternoon storms so far. Whatever the weather does we're loving every minute of this trip so far. The landscapes and scenery both here and on the way up from Las Vegas are really very breathtaking. Thanks Neil

Guys I'm intrigued to know what sort of chance you think I have of catching some good storms this summer. I've been deprived for years and now all of a sudden I feel I have something to look forward to. First of all I don't usually do summer holidays and had planned to take the family to the USA for Christmas. However we just found out my wife is expecting which blew our plans out of the water. As the flights are non-refundable I've taken the extra fare on the chin and switched to late July (i.e. next month). We will be flying into Las Vegas and driving up through Utah where we will be staying with relatives in the SLC area and also further up in Idaho. On the way back to Vegas I am planning a 'de-tour' through the desert down to Monument Valley and into AZ, taking in the Grand Canyon and other national parks before flying back. We will be in the US for 2.5 weeks in total. I'm just wondering if anyone has done the same sort of trip at this time of year and if so what sort of storms if any can I expect to catch, plus any tips or must-sees for the area would be appreciated. I'll have the wife and two kids with me so hard-core storm chasing is out of the question unfortunately!!

I'm about 12m East of Basingstoke in Hartley Wintney... the storm some of you guys have noticed passed to my East recently... nothing major just CC strikes every minute or so with some fairly loud rumbles of thunder and moderate rainfall. Seems to have blown over now. Can anyone say roughly what time of the night this dramatic weather is likely to arrive here in the South Central area, are we talking in the small hours or later Friday?