LONDON -- The north of Britain was a floating, fiery eye away from becoming Mordor for a short time on Wednesday night.
Powerful thunderstorms, which swept across Manchester and Scotland on Wednesday evening, ended the hottest July day on record and concluded a a day of extreme UK weather.
The storm clouds, which looked like something out of a Roland Emmerich disaster movie, made their entrance after dark.
Huge storm approaching Salford Quays earlier this evening @BBCNWT pic.twitter.com/CLHV14gqFF— Tommy Gaughan (@the_tommy_g) July 1, 2015
Then the lightning kicked in.
This footage, shot on a GoPro and slowed to half speed, shows the extent of the lightning over Manchester.
Manchester residents also shared footage and images of the storm on Instagram and Twitter:
@LucyWeather sat outside the local pub & caught this passing over #Altrincham #GardenersArms pic.twitter.com/cxFkoftoxO— Daniel Jenkinson (@Danieljenkinson) July 1, 2015
Amazing Light show over my street in Bury tonight @MENnewsdesk @bbcradiomanc #manchesterstorm pic.twitter.com/qKOURqXaB3— Grumpy Blue (@mancuniangit) July 1, 2015
#thunder #lighting #weather #nightsky #instadaily #igers #manchester A video posted by Jamie John-Warren (@jamiejohnwarren) on Jul 1, 2015 at 2:28pm PDT
@bbcweather @TheWeatherNetUK @metoffice The lightning storm over Manchester Airport was beautiful! pic.twitter.com/lTPAFcjBmt— Matt Robinson (@Astro_Matt27) July 2, 2015
Things got pretty intense in Scotland, too.
And as if the lightning wasn't enough, there were even reports of these hefty hailstones in certain areas.
@JonMitchellITV Above Halifax last night. Hailstones the size of golf balls caused damage to cars and roofing!! pic.twitter.com/rHIM7lzmGR— Paul Talbot-Greaves (@TalbotGreaves) July 2, 2015
@metoffice damaged cars on our street in Pateley Bridge pic.twitter.com/B9pnvUU0aq— Liam Scott (@LiamScott360) July 1, 2015
The storms formed along the edges of a severe heat wave that roasted southern parts of the UK in record heat on Wednesday, and led to Paris' second-hottest day on record as well.
The Met Office is forecasting more "thundery rain" on Friday evening in the north, as well as possible thunder over the weekend.