Terrified families were sent fleeing into the street in the early hours after their homes were struck by lightning.
Bolts blasted a hole in a roof and set fire to another house in Saltcoats as thunderstorms hammered North Ayrshire.
One family with a five-year-old are understood to have had a miraculous escape when their roof collapsed on them as they slept.
A neighbour told how the force of the blast was so strong, she first feared her own home had been hit.
She said: “We had a window open and the impact made stuff in the room fall over and the blinds actually lifted away from the window into the room.
“Absolutely terrifying experience and my heart goes out to the family across the road who did get hit.
“If this is how I’m feeling and I just witnessed it then I can’t imagine how they are feeling.”
The neighbour said she endured a sleepless night as the “anxiety and adrenaline” from the drama kicked in.
At least two homes were struck as Saltcoats became the epicentre of the fierce heatwave-busting storms.
A lightning bolt tore a two-metre wide hole in the roof of a house in Dykesmains Road - obliterating roof tiles.
The family with the five-year-old luckily escaped serious injury but were bruised and badly shaken by their ordeal.
Neighbours in Dykesfield Place are believed to have lost everything as flames sparked by another strike gutted their home.
Up to 40 firefighters tackled the blaze as five appliances were joined by three scrambled to the Dykesmains Road strike just after 1am.
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “There were no casualties. Firefighters extinguished the well-developed fire and ensured the area was made safe before leaving the scene."
Residents reacted to the storms as day broke - with some comparing the ferocity to the sound of a bomb blast.
Jody Horan posted on Facebook: “My whole house shook last night in Irvine. The kids woke up screaming.”
Helen McInnes added: “Don’t think I’ve ever heard a thunder as loud as one of the bangs.”
Quick-thinking Claire Wolffe grabbed her phone during the storm to capture incredible footage of nature’s fury.
She said: “The most insane thunderstorm in Ardrossan - you could feel the thunder through the whole house.
“The lightning lit up the entire sky and went on for almost two hours. It was pretty beautiful and mesmerising.”
