Best storm you've ever seen in the UK

[Robert1981]

 East_England_Stormchaser91  u have an impressive list do u have any videos or pictures to share?  I remember the 2005 storm my friends lived at Kings lynn at that time also I chased September 10th storms that was a great day. 

[East_England_Stormchaser91]

 Robert1981 I don’t have many unfortunately, I lost a fair few pre 2016 due to getting a new phone and not carrying over many photos that I had taken around 2010 to 2015, one of which was the amazing 4th July 2015 storm! Gutted. 
Here’s a couple from the 27th July 2018. All the ones pre 2013 I had no camera on me at all, just vivid memories. I’d have loved to have had a camera for the late 90’s too. I’m sure there was an absolute humdinger in what must’ve been August 1997, but can’t be certain. 1999 was probably the best year in terms of the quantity of thunder days. 

[Robert1981]

 East_England_Stormchaser91thats a shame i haven't got many pictures anymore unfortunately but thanks for sharing the ones u have it's good to have memories and still be able to remember them all them years ago. 

[East_England_Stormchaser91]

 Robert1981 Yep. Some of the ones were just unforgettable. I think the earliest one I can ever remember must’ve been June 1994, even though I was only a very small child!! I remember the room just lighting up pink and blue, and the noise was utterly frightening, and running into my parents room! It had to have been that one. I remember my parents and others talking about it non stop the next day out and about! 

Edited May 18 by East_England_Stormchaser91

[Robert1981]

 East_England_Stormchaser91 I agree the ones I can remember where good ones have things changed because i remember the power going out for a few seconds then come back on it doesn't seem to happen now. 

[East_England_Stormchaser91]

 Robert1981 Oh yes. I remember that happening with a few of them. Some of them on my list anyway. The one in July 2002, Peterborough city centre went blank for about 5 seconds before returning back. I was stood under Marks and Spencer front entrance along with 100’s of others just watching the chaos and flooding! August 2005 saw a few power flickers I recall too. 

[James1979]

 Lauren fantastic stories!

4 years after starting this thread I've still only seen minor storms... not sure if I'm just in a dead zone here compared to Essex or if it's all just still nothing like it used to be. A bit pr both perhaps 

[Lauren]

Here's the link to 3 short videos I shot of the 26th/27th May 2018 storm.

 

 

 

 

 

[LetItSnow]

I can remember very vividly during the evening on one of those days in late May of 2018, around 8-9pm there was a storm over the Oxford area (I think) that was absolutely prolific with lightning. In north-west Kent, my bedroom window faced northward and I could see the cloud in the distant, somewhat far away but relatively close. It was a surreal sight to see pristine blue skies but then on the horizon this cloud which was totally illuminated with frequent flashes like every second. It was like someone put a cotton ball with LED strobe lights in the sky. It was an incredibly surreal sight and I am so sad I never got footage of it. Probably the most marvellous cloudscape I've ever seen.

Gonna go look at old storm threads from 2014-2018 for the nostalgia... I would have been avidly reading each message!

Edited July 12 by LetItSnow!

[SunChaserWales]

Locally:

September 8th 2021 - humid and hot at 8am but you could tell it was coming. By 8:30am daytime darkness and torrential downpours!

Early on September 18th 2023 - the best light show I can remember witnessing

May 27th 2017 was incredible here. Also the early hours of December 29th that year gave us some incredible light shows for hours and hours!

I remember quite a few thundery days around the middle of July 2014 which was notable not necessarily for severity but for how many consecutive days just kept on giving us thunderstorms.

Also this year I remember March 28th being notable because there was still snow on the ground as it happened.

[Frosticle]

August 2002 - I forget which date exactly but maybe the 31st - when I was living in Wembley in north London. We had a thunderstorm that has since been dubbed a 'one in 200 year storm', with torrential rain for about 3 hours that turned roads into rivers and constant lightning. It was on BBC News that night; I remember footage of people on canoes a few streets away from us. From memory it was a very localised storm over north London that kept on back-building. 

[MP-R]

 Frosticle 07th August? A big storm caused a lot of flooding in London and flooded parts of the tube I think.

[Frosticle]

 MP-R Yes that was it, bang on.

[MP-R]

 Frosticle it was quite a thundery week. I was in Oxford that week and had thunderstorms on both the 07th and a bigger one on the 09th.