UK Weather - past and present
Month of September
Severe Thunderstorms, September, 1801
Letters from various parts of the country, we are sorry to state, mention considerable damage having been affected by a violent thunderstorm yesterday. At Wellington in Shropshire its continuance was near two hours, during which the claps of thunder were loud and incessant, and the flashes of lightning awfully vivid, and these added to a torrent of rain which choked up all the water courses, and caused a general inundation, filled the inhabitants with terror and dismay.
The lightning struck the gaol and shattered the roof; it exploded also in several places in the centre of town, but fortunately no lives were lost. Much damage was done in the different cellars, which were completely filled with water, and the roads in general were rendered impassable.
In its passage from Wellington to Colnbrook Dale, its effects were still more dreadful. One of the furnaces at Ketley was blown up, and several houses were unroofed and otherwise injured. Many horses etc. were drowned.
Providentially it appeared on the Sabbath, when the people were not at work, or a number of lives would have been lost. The damage is estimated at £10,000.
The River Dee was swelled to an uncommon height by the rains, and a chaise driver of Sheffield, attempting to wash his horses in it, was carried away by the torrent, and drowned.
The house of Mrs. Doughty, of Woolbridge, was struck by lightning, which unroofed part of the gable end, split the chimney, and descended from the attics, to the lower rooms; a marble chimney piece was broke in pieces, the bell wires melted, and the windows shattered. It broke out through the wall with a noise resembling the firing of a canon, leaving behind a strong sulphurous smell. Providentially no lives were lost.
A barn belonging to N. Rix Esq. at Blundeston, was set on fire by the lightning, and totally destroyed.
The stack of chimneys of the Old Angel public house at Nottingham was blown down, and falling on a soldier who was in bed, he was unfortunately killed.
Weather September 1863
