SCOTS have described being “jolted awake” in the middle of the night amid a stronger thunderstorm than they have “ever seen”.
Overnight into Friday, thunderstorms struck all across Scotland, according to BBC weather reports, affecting areas across the Central Belt, the Highlands, and southern Scotland.
Videos showed forks of lightning across Edinburgh Castle, and eyewitnesses said the volume of the thunder claps was “unreal”.
Edinburgh Castle #edinburgh #thunderstorm pic.twitter.com/pI689HNzZ6
— Ruariadh (@RuariadhR) June 26, 2026
One Clackmannanshire resident told The National: “I was actually woken up first by the torrential rain dump at first. It was lashing it down at probably around 3am.
“Then just as I was trying to get to sleep this almighty clash of thunder and lightning started. It actually jolted me awake and I could feel my heart pounding due to the sheer shock. I have never heard anything like it.”
They added: “I’ve never seen anything like it. It just kept going. Strike after strike with the loud thunder rumbling on.
“I actually had a few texts from some friends and family during the storm and they all said the same as me: ‘I've never seen thunder and lightning so intense.’”
On social media, one user shared a video of lightning crashes above Edinburgh, writing: “Have never experienced a storm like this before in Edinburgh that was a supercharged storm.”
Another, in Fife, also shared a clip of the lightning, writing: “A spectacular storm, and a stark reminder how minuscule we humans are.”
In East Lothian, another said: “Woke at 3.00am with thunder, lightning and heavy rain. Street lights went out several times and shop alarms on main street were going off.
“This is like weather in the US not East Lothian!”
Well that was the most spectacular thunder storm I have ever seen in Scotland. I honestly thought someone was running around outside with 300 wheelie bins when I woke up.#scotland #lightning #thunder #storm #bonnyrigg #Edinburgh pic.twitter.com/wgAjjZgucP
— GDU photography (@mrgu82) June 26, 2026
Photographer Greg Urquhart shared an image of huge forks of lightning in Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, writing: “Well that was the most spectacular thunder storm I have ever seen in Scotland.
“I honestly thought someone was running around outside with 300 wheelie bins when I woke up.”
On Facebook, one user in Penicuik wrote: “It was one of the most dramatic displays of lightning I’ve ever witnessed.
“I’ve lived in the UK my whole life and honestly can’t remember seeing flashes this intense before. The sky was lighting up constantly, and for a moment it felt more like a tropical storm than a typical Scottish summer evening!”
And photographer Ed Duncan, at Gairloch, shared an image of a lightning bolt and said: “We're still being hit by an electrical storm in Gairloch. I quickly snapped this while looking over Port Henderson towards the Storr on the Isle of Skye.”
STV weather presenter Sean Batty said there had been "over 60 lightning strikes/minute" as the "crazy" storm passed over South Lanarkshire.
The stormy weather comes after days of hot and dry weather.
Temperatures reached a high of 31.2C at Threave in Dumfries and Galloway on Thursday, according to Met Office data, while Drumalbin in South Lanarkshire and Auchencruive in South Ayrshire also hit the 30C mark.
The record June temperature for Scotland is 32.3C, which was recorded at Ochtertyre in Perthshire on June 18 1893.
However, the weather conditions have now changed and a Met Office warning says: “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.
“Rainfall amounts will be highly variable but narrow corridors of 20-30mm falling in one hour and potentially 30-50mm in three hours is possible. Frequent lightning, large hail (2-4cm diameter) and locally gusty winds with stronger storms.”
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has issued 18 flood alerts and one flood warning.
