London's night sky lit up in spectacular fashion by huge 'silent' lightning storm

 
A lightning bolt framed behind Tower Bridge last night
Laura Proto17 July 2015

A spectacular "silent" lightning storm over London last night left onlookers reeling in awe.

The storm began at about 10pm in south London last night, with people across London taking to Twitter to share what they could see.

The silent storm left many speculating about what was happening in the skies above them.

One Twitter user wrote: “Kerazy electric storm over South London right now #EndofDays." Another posted: “Silent lightning storm over South West London is beautiful”.

The storm over Wandsworth (Picture: @KobainUK)

Is there a lightning storm in south London or have we declared war on France. I’m fine with either," wrote another.

Some said they thought there might have been an alien invasion. "#flashinglights for the past hour in South London.. Anyone else seeing these? Start of a storm? Alien invasion?"

Silent lightning storm over London on July 16. Picture taken in Paddington by @ftsov.

While the lightning flashed, it remained dry with temperatures staying mild at 18 degrees, but humidity increased to 77 per cent, according to The Weather Channel.

The silent storm continued into the early hours of the morning across London and many who witnessed the spectacular display also posted photographs and videos on social media to show how the skies were lit up.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Lightning over Tower Bridge <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=9&amp;id=222025&amp;p=http://t.co/azy7J0jLQI" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2951-http://t.co/azy7J0jLQI" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/azy7J0jLQI</a>— Simon Cardy (@weather_king) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/weather_king/status/621805870976995329" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2951-https://twitter.com/weather_king/status/621805870976995329" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 16, 2015</a>

The storm was seen in locations including Chessington and Teddington in south west London, Paddington, Muswell Hill and Tottenham.

Reigate Grammar School weather station tweeted there were 20,000 lightning strikes overnight across west London, north west London and into the home counties.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Intense thunderstorms tracked NE overnight Hamps, WSussex, WSurrey, NW London to EastAnglia; 20000 lightning strikes <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=9&amp;id=222025&amp;p=http://t.co/seoxCMMDEx" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2951-http://t.co/seoxCMMDEx" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/seoxCMMDEx</a>— RGS Weather (@RGSweather) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/RGSweather/status/621923815409356800" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2951-https://twitter.com/RGSweather/status/621923815409356800" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 17, 2015</a>

Silent lightning is officially known as heat lightning, which are flashes that do not have the sounds of thunder alongside them.

It happens when a storm occurs far away and the sound dissolves before it reaches those who witness the lightning.

When heat lightning happens in the evening and when it is dark, people are able to see the flashes up to 100 miles away.

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