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Thunderbolts & lightning: Your pictures

Jason Arunn MurugesuNorth East and Cumbria
News imagesimon The Angel of the North: a rust-coloured statue of an angel with extended wings. It stands on a hill, with greenery on either side. Lightning can be seen, seemingly rising from a bush beneath the right wing of the sculpture.simon
The Angel of the North has never looked so menacing

After a run of hot and sticky nights, many people across north-east England and Cumbria were woken up by deafening thunder this morning with some, including this reporter, being too sleepy to get up and look out of the window at the dramatic weather.

The lightning even struck a school in Wallsend, forcing it to close.

Luckily some of our Weather Watchers were on hand to capture the drama. Here are a few of our favourites.

News imageCumbrian stargazer A bold white lightning strike forks across the night sky directly over the roof of a house in Haile. The sky is a very deep blue.Cumbrian stargazer
Lightning hit the village of Haile in Cumbria
News imageA Figment of your Imagination Rolling grey clouds and small bursts of lightning light up the ruins of Tynemouth Priory on a hill above the townA Figment of your Imagination
Small bursts of lightning lit up the ominous sky above the ruins of Tynemouth Priory
News imageSharon Bell Rooftops silhouetted by pink lightning strikes across grey thundery skies. Sharon Bell
Everything went pink at Marske-by-the-Sea
News imageJohnny B A thick white lightning strike captured from across a field. Telephone poles and overhead wires stand in the foreground, with rolling hills in the background beneath a grey, stormy sky.Johnny B
A massive bolt touched down in Whitehaven, Cumbria
News imageLauren A view of a dark clouded sky above roofs of houses and the tops of trees. A downward lightning bolt crosses a faint but definite rainbow to the right of the image.Lauren
A rainbow formed during an electrical burst in Durham

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