Flooding and fire damage after thunderstorms across Scotland

Thunderstorms and thousands of lightning strikes have passed across Scotland, leaving a house badly damaged and causing flooding in some areas.

One house in Midlothian had its roof destroyed when it caught fire during a thunderstorm in the east of the country on Thursday night.

A camping and caravan park at Dornoch in the Highlands faced flash flooding and large hailstones, while flights at Edinburgh Airport have been disrupted.

A Met Office yellow warning for thunderstorms remains in force throughout Friday for all parts of Scotland except Shetland.

BBC Weather presenter Christopher Blanchett said a large number - about 32,000 - lightning strikes had taken place across Scotland in the past 24 hours.

The thundery weather comes after Scotland recorded its hottest day of the year on Thursday, with temperatures peaking at 31.2C in Threave, Dumfries and Galloway.

High temperatures meant that some areas in Scotland officially experienced a heatwave - with temperatures peaking at 25C or above for three consecutive days.

Blanchett said the several days of strong June sunshine and extreme heat had left a lot of energy in the atmosphere.

"A nearby cold front has moved in causing a highly unstable atmosphere," he explained.

"The heat near the ground has been forced up into the freezing layers of the troposphere, cooling rapidly and creating giant cumulonimbus clouds and thundery downpours."

He added: "Flash flooding can become a problem because the ground remains temporarily hot and baked solid meaning these sudden, intensive downpours cannot easily soak into the earth, drastically increasing the immediate flooding risk."

In Dalkeith, Stuart Drummond woke up at about 03:00 to the sound of thunder and lightning "billowing" across the sky.

"There was an almighty crack above my head and the lights went out," he told BBC Scotland News.

"I ran along the corridor to where the torch was and shone it downstairs, where I saw the entry box for the telephone was on fire."

He said it took him five minutes to smother the flames with a fire blanket before he noticed his whole house was becoming enveloped in smoke.

"I opened the back door and looked up to see there were flames coming through the roof," Drummond said.

"At that point neighbours appeared and ordered us out of the house for our own safety so we got out with our pyjamas on, grabbed a jacket and that was it."

Drummond said he believed the fire was highly likely to have been caused by a lightning strike - and he was grateful to his neighbours for their help.

"We wish we had grabbed more before we left because there are pictures and furniture that are precious to us that are still there but damaged," he added.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said it was alerted to the fire at 03:24 and sent four fire engines as well as a specialist unit to the scene.

A spokesperson said: "There were no casualties and crews left the scene at 8am after ensuring the area was made safe."

Darren Redfern, who runs Dornoch Caravan and Camping Park, said he had never seen a thunderstorm like the one he witnessed on Thursday evening.

"It wasn't just individual flashes of lightning, it was like strobe lighting and a constant rumble of thunder for probably about 15 or 20 minutes," he told BBC Scotland News.

"After that we had hailstones, almost like small pebbles falling from the sky.

"Once the hailstones finished, the rain started and you could hardly see from one end of the site to the other because the rain was so heavy and thick."

Redfern said some tents did not survive the extreme weather and caravans were also damaged.

"Some caravan awnings came into grief, there were burst and bent poles and we had a gazebo that was upside down and in a very sorry shape," he said.

"There was a couple of families who ended up spending the night in our games room."

A spokesperson for Edinburgh Airport said: "Air traffic services at Edinburgh Airport are managing the impacts from earlier disruption due to severe thunderstorms in the local and surrounding airspace.

"This situation has improved from the worst of the weather this morning but it likely this will have knock-on impacts throughout the day and passengers are advised to contact their airline for the latest travel information."

The Met Office forecast said: "Spells of heavy rain and thunderstorms initially over north-west Scotland are likely to become more widespread during Friday morning.

"Further thunderstorms and spells of heavy rain are possible in the afternoon before becoming confined to more northern areas of Scotland later in the day."

There is also likely to be frequent lightning, hail and gusty winds.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) issued a flood warning for Strathglass, near Beauly in the north west Highlands, but that has now been lifted.

A number of flood alerts remain in place for other areas.

Sepa said flooding from surface water and small watercourses is possible throughout Friday as a result of heavy rain.

Parts of England and Wales have a rare red warning of extreme heat in place until 21:00 on Friday, affecting millions of people for the third consecutive day.