Thunderstorms in the West Country - May and June 2026 - ongoing

[whole diary]

[Mark A]

Arrived in Bath sending a big push ahead of it from the downdraught beneath it, and continuous rumbling from high overhead. Now very dark, chucking it down, poor visibility, thrashing the trees, but suspiciously little lighting - on the incoming edge of that for the moment.

Mark

[Chris from Nailsea]

Yes, we, too, had very little lightning - just almost continuous thunder.

The thunderstorm has now passed on - but the noise of thunder has now been replaced by that of the police helicopter hovering overhead.

CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum).

[Mark A]

Yup, continuous high stuff until a couple of minutes ago, and if it likes it can go back up to the top of the clouds.

Mark

[Chris from Nailsea]

... if it likes it can go back up to the top of the clouds.

The helicopter? 

[Mark A]

Photo from Bluesky of a close call east of Bath. Waiting to find out if that faint trace of something more in the foreground is the lightning path-not-taken, an artefact, or a hair on the negative.

Mark

https://bsky.app/profile/antinbath.bsky.social/post/3movg3sa74c22

[bradshaw]

Here in West Dorset the rain does its usual thing, avoiding the area between Lyme, Beaminster and Eggardon Hill.

[Mark A]

Overview from Bath from last night is that there were a lot of instances of flash flooding, often in places you'd not expect to see it - in the roads and roundabout at the top of Wellsway wouldn't be the first place that would come to mind as susceptible, and downhill roads then vulnerable to water flows, and where it was already damaged, removing the road surface. Also, instances of water escaping from overstretched drainage and then bursting road surfaces from beneath, and flooding of properties from the flash flooding on the roads and from roof drainage that blocked. Not a good evening to have a valley gutter. Fallen trees too including one that injured someone. I've not been out and about but I expect there's a lot of clearing up to be done. If the railways escaped then so much the better, this unforecasted event probed vulnerabilities and found more than a few.

Mark

[JohnM]

We left Melksham for Downend (Bristol) yesterday evening at about 6.30, during the storm. It was chucking it down, with loads of water on the roads, and a small lake on the A4 just before the Bathford/Batheaston roundabout. There was a long queue coming the other way on the dual carriageway; there might have been something blocking the A363 down to Bradford as well.

Coming back just after 10.00 it was all clear.