A huge fireball was witnessed near the English city of Oxford as an explosion erupted at a power station after reportedly being struck by lightning.
Severn Trent Green Power said that a lightning strike sparked an explosion at its facility in Yarnton on the northern outskirts of Oxford on Monday evening.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the energy company said that they “can confirm that at around 19:20 (7:20 pm) this evening, a digester tank at its Cassington AD facility near Yarnton, Oxfordshire, was struck by lightning resulting in the biogas within that tank igniting.”
“We are working with the emergency services to secure the site and will provide further comments in due course,” the company added.
A local witness told the Oxford Mail that they saw “strange pulsing sky out of our windows looking northwest of Oxford”.
“I’m guessing it’s a fire caused by the lightning storm that passed over,” the witness surmised.
Explosion North-West of Oxford. pic.twitter.com/d7ypIdvs2m
— Knocker (@Knocker) October 2, 2023
The Met Office had issued a yellow warning in the region between 5 p.m. and 2 a.m.
The Thames Valley Police said in a statement that officers have been dispatched to the scene, adding: “It is believed that lightning struck gas containers at the site during bad weather this evening, causing a large fire.”
A resident from Somerton, about 15 miles north of Oxford told Sky News: “We’ve had the most unbelievable thunder and lightning storm ever… it came out of nowhere and the noise was incredible.
“A lightning strike hit right outside my house and it was deafening. It was terrifying. Awful. Our power has just come back on but we’ve been without power all evening until now.”