Orchard Road in Buckland

Torrential downpours caused flash floods and violent bolts of lightning left thousands of homes in the dark as a storm wreaked havoc across Oxfordshire.

Only days after a scorching heatwave saw temperatures reach 30C, the county was battered with lightning strikes and monsoon-like rainfall during a powerful storm yesterday morning.

A freak deluge saw an entire month's worth of rain fall in just two hours at RAF Brize Norton, while half an inch fell in an hour at RAF Benson.

Homeowners were left reeling as bolts of lightning struck houses in Oxford, Bicester, Banbury and Mollington, and the Met Office recorded thousands of strikes as the storm raged.

Firefighters raced to 30 emergency calls due to lightning strikes, flooded homes and fire alarms set off by the weather.

More than 70 roads across the county were blocked by fallen trees or flood water.

Lightning strikes brought down eight Southern Electric cables causing a blackout to 3,500 homes in Witney Alvescot, Wootton and Woodstock.

Other cables were torn down blocking the A40 at Ducklington at 7.20am.

A lightning strike knocked out signalling on the Cotswold line at Ascott-under-Wychwood, which caused disruption for passengers for up to five hours. Signals between Didcot and Swindon were also out of action for most of the morning.

Tailbacks were reported at Junction 9 on the M40 where a bolt of lightning knocked out traffic lights Lightning hit Julie Paul's house in Sorrell Mead, Bicester, at 6.15am yesterday, knocking tiles off the roof and splitting a wooden rafter.

Primary schoolteacher Mrs Paul, 33, said: "There was just this enormous bang and obviously we realised something had happened.

"The light in the bathroom fell down and some of the plaster from the ceiling came down.

"Then I smelled some burning and thought we should check out the loft just in case. It was all dusty and smoky. It had split one of the joists and damaged the roof. It woke a lot of the neighbours up, the crash was so phenomenal."

Mrs Paul said the lightning strike had temporarily knocked out telephone and Internet connections in the area, and added she had also had to have a fuse box replaced.

She added: "My husband and I just both feel really, really lucky. Hopefully, it's a once in a lifetime experience. The fireman said it is supposed to bring good luck when you are struck by lightning it could have been so much worse."

A lightning bolt left a scar on Hailey Road in Witney after it struck the ground and violently ripped along the street.

Resident Michelle Clack said: "It shook the house. It was nasty; almost evil. The road looks like someone has been at with a pneumatic drill and shards were thrown 20 feet down the road."

Fire crews were also called to lightning strikes in South Bar Street, in Banbury, Cropredy Road, in Mollington, Herschel Crescent, in Littlemore and Lucerne Avenue, Bicester.

Children and carers were evacuated from Northfield House children's home in Sandy Lane West, Littlemore, in Oxford, after a bolt of lightning hit at 3.30am. The strike set off alarms but no-one was injured.

A lightning bolt also split a tree in three in Hunts Close, Bicester.

Last night a spokesman for Southern Electric said 200 homes were still waiting for their power to be restored.

WATER, WATER, EVERYWHERE Freak summer downpours have left some homeowners counting the cost of mopping up rainwater.

Homes in Buckland, Garsington and Bicester, and a pre-school in Bicester, were swamped as the heavens opened in the early hours of the morning yesterday leaving much of the county soaked.

In Orchard Way, Buckland, a wave of water washed into a couple's home flooding the living room and kitchen and leaving a six inch deep lake.

Karen Brown, 43, and her fiancee Mark Brookes fear many of their possessions have been ruined.

Miss Brown said: "It's not the kind of thing you want to wake up to in the morning. When we saw the garden flooding we thought we'd have at least 30 minutes to clear the floor and cupboards but the flood just came in with a whoosh.

"We have a small flood barrier but it was just acting as a weir. We are not sure what is damaged yet but the carpet has been taken up and the furniture does not look good."

Their neighbours also suffered with up to a foot of water flooding the kitchen and living room.

Meanwhile it was all hands to the pump in Kiln Lane, Garsington, where Carol Clarke and her family used buckets to clear three feet of water from the cellar.

She said: "Like most people we were awake all night with the storm and haven't had a chance to sit down. The fire brigade took four hours to take the water back but because all the fields are so boggy some of the water started to return so we've brought the buckets out."

The flood destroyed old photographs, personal items and left the boiler almost unusable.

Fire crews also called to pump water from a home in Bath Terrace and teachers were forced to close Ravenstone House Pre-School and send the children home following a flood.

The 40th Witney Motor Show due to be held in fields at Henry Box School was cancelled due to the flooding.

Homeowners in Sandford also suffered after the heavy rain caused sewage to flood two gardens.

8:56am Friday 7th July 2006

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