![\"Lightning](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0_GettyImages-82203982.jpg\")
<\/p>\nResidents reported seeing lightning strikes in Sutton, Chelsea and Enfield<\/p>\n
The Met Office had issued a six-hour thunderstorm alert in the early hours [stock image](Image: Dan Kitwood\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Parts of London were yet again battered by a thunderstorm overnight after temperatures rose to sweltering levels. Lightning lit up the skies above areas such as Sutton<\/a>, Chelsea and Enfield at around 4am on Saturday, June 27.<\/p>\n It comes just days after people across the city were awoken by deafening thunder<\/a> and torrential rain that caused flash flooding in some streets and Tube stations. The Met Office had issued a six-hour thunderstorm alert in the early hours, warning of frequent lightning strikes and wet weather<\/a> across the East of England, London and South East England until 8am today.<\/p>\n The authority added that some damage to a few buildings and structures is likely, as well as potential disruption to train services. The previous storm saw over 400 calls to London Fire Brigade<\/a>, including a house fire in Tooting.<\/p>\n Content cannot be displayed without consent<\/p>\n Lightning strikes are believed to have sparked a blaze on Wilde Place<\/a>, damaging the roof of a semi-detached house and a small section of the adjoining property. While it’s currently unclear if any damage has been done to the capital this time around, residents were more than happy to take in the spectacle.<\/p>\n Posting on X, one onlooker said: “What a way to end a heatwave. 4am to 5am, there were several lightning flashes in Camberwell.”<\/p>\n Another wrote: “Storm over Chelsea, London, this morning at 4am. At least it watered the plants and gardens.”<\/p>\n Others city dwellers were shocked awake by the noise of thunder rumbling above their home, with one person posting: “We\u2019ve gone from the most disgusting heat to the loudest thunder I\u2019ve heard in my life.”<\/p>\n A second person said: “I’ve lived In London for 13 years and. I never knew this city could have thunder,” while a third joked: “We must sacrifice another prime minister to appease the angry thunder gods.”<\/p>\n Thunderstorms are likely to occur after a heatwave because the atmosphere becomes unstable. This typically happens when very warm air near the surface sits beneath much cooler air higher up.<\/p>\n Dozens of firefighters spent over an hour battling a house fire in Tooting believed to have been started by a lightning strike earlier this week(Image: LFB)<\/p>\n “During periods of hot, humid weather<\/a>, especially after a few days of strong sunshine, the ingredients for this instability are often in place,” the Met Office said. Temperatures are now set to drop after the heatwave saw the record June temperature broken three days in a row.<\/p>\n Friday was confirmed by the Met Office as the UK\u2019s hottest June day on record, with a provisional temperature of 37.3C recorded in Santon Downham, Suffolk, surpassing the high of 36.7C recorded in Merryfield, Somerset, on Thursday. These smashed the long-standing record for June heat, which dates back to the summer of 1976, by more than 1C.<\/p>\n Scientists warned that the heatwave would have been virtually impossible 50 years ago, with human-driven climate change fuelling more intense and frequent extreme heat events. A drop in temperatures will develop in the west at first, with these fresher conditions spreading slowly further east over the course of the weekend.<\/p>\n An amber warning of extreme heat remains in place from midnight until 9pm on Saturday across the south east of England and East Anglia.<\/p>\n Met Office chief forecaster Andy Page said: “The UK is seeing a gradual shift in conditions over the weekend, with those to the southeast of England retaining the warmth the longest, where an amber extreme heat warning remains in force through much of Saturday, though peaks are more likely to be in the low 30s Celsius.”<\/p>\n Next week will bring a mixed picture for the UK\u2019s weather, with a combination of cloudy and sunny spells, as well as influxes of rain from the west at times, the weather authority added.<\/p>\n Got a story for MyLondon? Get in touch via rebecca.mcculloch@reachplc.com<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Firefighters](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2_Lightning-strike-Tooting-2-1.jpg\"\/)
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