In the Rushden and Higham Ferrers district, in common with other parts of Northants and Bedfordshire, thunder-storms broke out just after midnight on Monday and raged with intense violence during the early hours of Tuesday.  The first storm occurred about one o’clock, and lasted for a considerable length of time owing to there being no wind to carry it away.  The lightning, of the forked variety, was of awe-inspiring brilliance, whilst the thunderclaps were generally very loud and once or twice simply deafening.  The storm abated for a time, and then broke out again towards daylight, the thunder continuing until after 6 a.m.  It is marvellous that practically no damage was done at Rushden and Higham Ferrers.

  The rainfall during the night amounted to .74 in., or approximately three-quarters of an inch.

  At Great Doddington a barn belonging to Mr. W. Borrie was struck.  Mrs. Borrie noticed signs of the barn being on fire immediately after a particularly heavy clap of thunder.  Mr. Borrie found that a hole serving as a window high up in the wall of the barn was giving out smoke and flames.  A ladder was put up to the hole.  It was then found that some sacks used to stop up the hole were on fire.  On the application of water the fire was very soon put out.  The lightning made one or two very bad cracks right down the wall of the barn.  One or two pigeons roosting near the weathervane were killed.

  The most prolonged and violent storm within living memory broke over Bedford at midnight and lasted seven hours.  Houses and trees were struck by lightning, and in the country there was great damage to crops and loss of cattle.

  Near Huntingdon three horses were struck by lightning and killed.

A Second Storm

  On Tuesday, at 9 p.m., a second storm burst over the district.  It had been a delightful day, very warm and “close”, and in the evening there was the feel of coming rain.  Heavy clouds were seen massing far to the south and moving towards us.  They came on rapidly.

  The sun had not set, and the contrast between the red in the west and the blackness of the south and east was very striking and produced a weird effect.  For a short time the sky overhead was green.  Then, in a few minutes, the blackness seemed to cover the heavens and to blot out the light of the setting sun.  Night had come, swift and sudden.  The lightning flashed and the thunder pealed, and the rain came down as if a cloud had burst.  For an hour or more the dark sky continued to be brilliantly illuminated, and, timing the thunder, one could tell that the district was a centre of the storm.  Then it seemed to pass westward, but up to midnight, three hours after it began, there was still the glimmer of the lightning and the roll of distant thunder.  It was just like the storm of the early morning, and for a short time the rain was quite as heavy.

“Direct Hit” At Rushden

  In the “aerial warfare” of Tuesday in Rushden a “direct hit” was “recorded” on Mr. Robert Cunnington’s residence on the Wellingborough road.  The roof was partly damaged by an electric discharge, the lightning finding an earth conductor in a gaspipe.  The pipe was severed in one place, and the escaping gas was ignited.  Mr. Cunnington cut off the supply of gas in time to prevent further damage.

Irthlingborough House Struck

  A house occupied by Mr. H. Marshall, 52 Queen-street, Irthlingborough, was struck by lightning at 11.30 p.m. on Tuesday.  Extensive damage was done to the chimney-stack, and a number of tiles were torn from the roof.  The fireplace of the living-room was badly damaged, also the mantelpiece of the middle bedroom.  By a stroke of luck, the current seems to have earthed down a stench-pipe which runs up the gable end of the house.  Mr. and Mrs. Marshall were greatly alarmed, but except for the fact that Mrs. Marshall was temporarily rendered deaf, they sustained no injury.

  At Earls Barton two houses were struck by lightning during Tuesday night’s storm, and one was set on fire.  At a house in King-street, Earls Barton, occupied by Mr. W. Ingram, the chimney-stack was struck and a hole torn in the roof.  Bricks were hurled down the chimney, plaster was ripped off the bedroom ceiling, the fireplace was partially wrenched away, and the rest of the roof was cracked.  It was conjectured that the lightning ran along the gutter and fired the rafters of the workshop at the back.  The fire brigade were summoned and, after taking off some of the roofing, subdued the flames, but not before a number of beams and rafters were destroyed.  The house of Mr. F. Partridge, opposite Earls Barton Cemetery Lodge, was also considerably damaged.

  A baby narrowly escaped death or serious injury in a house at Mears Ashby, which was struck by lightning on Tuesday night.  The chimney-stack was struck, and plaster, bricks, and mortar fell down the chimney, smothering the baby’s cradle, which stood just in front of the fireplace in the bedroom.  The baby, fortunately, was rescued unhurt.

  At Wellingborough, for half-an-hour before the storm, low rumblings of thunder were heard and an inky-coloured cloud which eventually approached from the south-west produced a curious effect upon the light that has rarely, if ever, been seen before.  In front of this black cloud the lighter clouds were of a copper hue, and the effect upon the colours of vegetation was remarkable.  The grass and the leaves upon the trees looked like mud, and brightly hued flowers seemed to turn a sickly green.  Suddenly, from out the inky cloud the lightning darted hither and thither, illuminating the whole area with the brilliance of bright daylight.  When the clouds had spread further across towards the north-east there seemed to be several storms overhead, all warring together.  The scene as the lightning shone from all points of the sky was magnificent, though alarming.  Both the lightning and the nerve-shattering thunder were seemingly continuous for more than an hour, and the rain simply tippled down in sheets.  There was a slight lull in the pandemonium about 11 p.m., but not long after, however, it restarted and was as bad as before. This outbreak, however, only lasted about three-quarters of an hour, and thereafter the night was quiet, though lightning could be seen till after daybreak.

  At Mr. C. B, Tomkins’s farm at Pytchley a stack of straw was fired by the lightning and destroyed.

  At Wellingborough a house, occupied by Mr. A. Earby, on the Swanspool building estate was struck.  A number of slates and a portion of the ornamental woodwork were shattered.