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Storms: East of England hit by fires, floods and fallen trees

Chris Pacey Lightning at night coming down from a pink and purple skyChris Pacey
Lightning was visible on Sunday in many areas across East Anglia, including near Martham in Norfolk

Fires, fallen trees and flooding have resulted from Sunday's storms across the East of England.

The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for the region, as well as southern England, until 02:00 BST.

Incidents included lightning causing a roof fire in Suffolk, flooding in Peterborough and reports of fallen trees across Hertfordshire.

Hertfordshire Police said people should only travel "if necessary" in bad weather.

Dan Fountain Flooded road with a queue of carsDan Fountain
Bourges Boulevard in Peterborough city centre was flooded over the weekend

Lightning struck a roof in Haverhill and caused a roof fire, Suffolk Fire Service said.

Crews attended the scene and "all persons were accounted for".

The fire service also supported colleagues in Essex in dealing with a fire in Sturmer, near Haverhill, by sending two fire engines shortly after 19:00 BST.

DocBob/BBC Weather Watchers Lightning hits RAF Barkway mast, HertfordshireDocBob/BBC Weather Watchers
BBC Weather Watcher Doc Bob captured this photo of the former RAF Barkway mast, near Royston in Hertfordshire, being struck by lightning

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Flooding on Bourges Boulevard in Peterborough city centre caused disruption on the road.

The city council said it was "looking into" the flooding and was "liaising with our partner agencies to find a solution".

Hertfordshire Police said it had "several reports of flooding and trees being down" across the county on Sunday.

The A414 had disruption due to flooding and a tree falling down in the storm.

It said it saw a "spike in weather-related calls" and advised people to "not attempt to drive through flood water" and to take care when travelling during bad weather.

Rohan/BBC Weather Watchers Lightning picture taken by Rohan of DunstableRohan/BBC Weather Watchers
Rohan of Dunstable sent this picture of Sunday's lightning to BBC Weather Watchers

Greg Dewhurst, Met Office meteorologist, said low pressure was dominating UK weather patterns at the moment.

"The air was particularly unstable, warm and humid through Sunday which resulted in the development of the thunderstorms," he said.

"It was quite unusual for the thunderstorms to be that intense for this point in the year and were probably similar to what we are used to seeing in the middle of summer."

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