County hit by fierce storm
Shropshire's mini-heatwave was brought to a spectacular end last night when a ferocious thunderstorm and monsoon-style rain wreaked havoc across the county. Shropshire's mini-heatwave was brought to a spectacular end last night when a ferocious thunderstorm and monsoon-style rain wreaked havoc across the county. Hundreds of homes and businesses across the region were flooded and football matches involving both Shrewsbury Town and AFC Telford were also hit during the deluge. Power lines were also brought down, blacking out homes, when the storm hit at about 8pm and the sudden downpours led to a string of road accidents. Lightning strikes sparked at least one blaze. The storms brought an end to the hottest day of the year so far in the county when temperatures soared to 27.5C (81F). During the day two children had to be rescued by an off-duty policeman after becoming trapped in the River Tern, near Tern Hill, when they went in to cool off. See also: Your storm photos Bucks match abandoned - photos Check out our seven-day weather forecast here See our photo gallery below and read the full story in today's Shropshire Star
Shropshire's mini-heatwave was brought to a spectacular end last night when a ferocious thunderstorm and monsoon-style rain wreaked havoc across the county.
Hundreds of homes and businesses across the region were flooded and football matches involving both Shrewsbury Town and AFC Telford were also hit during the deluge.
See our photo gallery below
Bucks match abandoned - photos
Check out our seven-day weather forecast here
Power lines were also brought down, blacking out homes, when the storm hit at about 8pm and the sudden downpours led to a string of road accidents. Lightning strikes sparked at least one blaze.
The storms brought an end to the hottest day of the year so far in the county when temperatures soared to 27.5C (81F).
During the day two children had to be rescued by an off-duty policeman after becoming trapped in the River Tern, near Tern Hill, when they went in to cool off.
Meanwhile a 21-year-old Shrewsbury woman was hauled from the sea by her friends after getting into difficulties while swimming off the Welsh coast.
She was carried away by the current after going into the water fully dressed on Saturday at Cemetery Beach in Aberdovey. She was flown to hospital where she is still being treated.
Today Shropshire Star weatherman John Warner said: "I had one report that 40mm of rain fell in the Edgmond area, near Newport, in about four hours last night. That is almost 2ins of rain and the bulk of that came down in around half an hour."
A fusebox in a bus garage in Wellington was set ablaze in an incident thought to have been caused by a lightning strike but the bulk of incidents during the downpours involved homes and gardens being flooded.
Emergency services were kept at full stretch and Shropshire Fire Service dealt with more than 50 calls in just a two-hour period when the storm was at its height. The workload was compounded by fire alarms being triggered by the lightning when there was no fire.
A fire service spokeswoman said: "The worst places affected appeared to have been Wellington, Telford and up into Lilleshall. We worked on our emergency plans and were busy getting sandbags out to numerous places."
Market Drayton Keeper Andrew Pryce in the pouring rain at Shrewsbury Town just before the stadium lights went out.
The Bucks Head Stadium is deserted but the rain continues to fall long after the postponment of United's Senior Cup clash with Bridgnorth Town.
A rainy scene in Shrewsbury last night.
