Met Office heavy rain warning after lightning strikes hit Derbyshire homes
A new Met Office weather warning has been issued for Derbyshire after lightning strikes hit homes in Derby and the wider county last night (Saturday, September 21). An amber warning for heavy rain will come into force at 5am on Monday morning (September 23) and remain in place until 9pm tomorrow night. It covers most of the county including Derby, Chesterfield, Matlock and Bakewell.
It comes as the weather agency's yellow weather warning for heavy rain throughout Sunday now covers all of Derbyshire. It initially only covered the south of the county, including Swadlincote.
The countywide warning began at midnight and will last until 11.59pm this evening (Sunday, September 22) before the amber warning comes into force early tomorrow morning. Yellow warnings are issued when it is likely the weather will cause some low-level impacts.
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An amber warning means there is an "increased likelihood of impacts from severe weather, which could potentially disrupt your plans", the Met Office says. The weather agency added: "An area of heavy rain is expected to develop across central and southern England during the early of hours of Monday, edging north and west and then becoming slow-moving somewhere across the warning area for several hours.
"It will then weaken and move away eastwards later Monday evening and overnight. Not all counties within the warning area will be equally affected, but it seems likely that some areas will see 60-80 mm and a few places may receive 100-120mm or more.
"This is likely to result in travel disruption and some flooding." The news comes after lightning strikes hit several properties in Derbyshire on Saturday evening.
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service attended the three lightning strikes listed below:
Blagreaves Lane, Littleover - 999 control operators mobilised six fire crews to a property on Blagreaves Lane in Littleover only minutes before 9pm when it is believed lightning hit the roof of the property. Fire crews were unable to use the aerial ladder platform to help fight the fire in the roof of the property as it was deemed too dangerous due to the storm. No one was injured in the incident. Firefighters left the scene at around 1.15am on Sunday morning. A fire investigation is due to commence later this morning.
Dannah Street, Ripley - At 8.41pm, firefighters were mobilised to a two-story property believed to have been struck by lightning on Dannah Street in Ripley. Fire crews from Alfreton and Heanor attended and checked the roof space for any hot spots and isolated the gas and electrics, making the property safe. No one was injured in the incident.
Melbourne, Derbyshire - Several properties were impacted after a lightning strike hit connecting cabling in properties. At 16.51 hours firefighters from Ascot Drive, Nottingham Road and Long Eaton attended Jubilee Close in Melbourne where several flats were impacted losing their electrical supply. One property had an internal wall blown down and a further property was smoke logged. Firefighters isolated the gas and electricity in the properties and worked with the Local Authority to ensure the safety of residents. No one was injured in these properties. At 4.58pm, firefighters from Long Eaton and Kingsway attended a property on Castle Street, also connected to the Jubilee Close flats. There was no visible sign of fire. One elderly lady is believed to have been affected by the lightning strike and was handed into the care of East Midlands Ambulance Service.
Group Manager David Diggins said: “It has been a busy night for the county's emergency services dealing with the impact of a significant thunderstorm. Firefighters were mobilsed by our 999 control room operators to several properties believed to have been hit by lightning.
“Due to the severity of the storm and lightning in the area, a decision had to be taken that it was too dangerous to use the aerial ladder platform to fight a fire in the roof of one property in Littleover. Additional fire crews were mobilised to support firefighters working to extinguish the fire from the ground.
“Several flats in Melbourne were also affected when a lightning strike hit cabling that connected the properties. One elderly lady is believed to have been affected by this strike and was handed into the care of East Midlands Ambulance Service understandably shaken by the experience.”
In its forecast for the region tonight, the Met Office states: "Showery rain, heavy at times, is expected to spread north and linger across the region for much of the night, along with extensive low cloud."
Today is predicted to be much cooler than Saturday, with a high of 17C expected in Derby. With light rain predicted throughout the day, the Met Office predicts heavier rain to fall from around 6pm.