Astonishing lightning strikes, hail storms and torrential rain batter Britain

BRITAIN was battered by severe hail, thunder and lightning and torrential rain this afternoon.

STORM: Lightning strikes over Birmingham 

Dark skies brought dire weather across much of the country, including the Midlands, south Wales, London and Essex.

Twitter users posted astonishing pictures of lightning storms as well as HUGE hail stones.
Shoppers scrambled for cover and traffic ground to a halt in Birmingham, according to local reports.
There were also reports of flash flooding across the Midlands region.