Express & Star

House hit by lightning as storms batter region - in pictures and video

A house was hit by lightning as thunderstorms hit the West Midlands for the fourth night in a row.

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Torrential rain, lightning and hail swept across the region on Tuesday causing flash floods on roads across the Black Country and Staffordshire.

In Erdington, Birmingham, the roof of a house was set on fire when lightning struck at around 9pm.

Nobody was injured and fire crews from Erdington and Sutton Coldfield extinguished the blaze.

Meanwhile cars had to be abandoned in some areas by drivers who got into difficulty in deep water.

See some of the flooding in Walsall here:

And more storms were expected on Wednesday, with the Met Office issuing yellow weather warnings for thunderstorms across much of the UK up until midnight - including all of the Black Country, Staffordshire and Birmingham.

Flood warnings were in place for the River Sow and River Penk in Staffordshire, the River Stour and Smestow Brook in Black Country and South Staffordshire.

Parts of Walsall were badly affected by the storms, with fire crews attending a home in Aldridge which had flooded.

A mini ejector pump was used to clear the water from the property and stop it from damaging the electrics.

Walsall Manor Hospital was also hit and the fire service was called out to pump a large volume of water.

The Sister Dora entrance was among the affected areas, while water was coming through the ceiling near an operating theatre.

A number of roads across the Black Country and Staffordshire were closed after drains became overwhelmed.

Police in Cannock issued a warning for motorists advising them to only travel if it was essential due to the severity of local floods.

In Wolverhampton, Planetary Road in Wednesfield was impassible due to flood water and Ebstree Road in Seisdon was closed and fire crews called out to try to clear the street.

Cranford Road in Smethwick remained closed on Wednesday morning with a team trying to clear the area.

Pictures of huge forks of lightning across the region were shared on social media, along with videos of heavy rainfall.

Flooding struck in Birmingham city centre, closing a section Queensway and Snow Hill Bridge, police were in attendance to assist motorists.