A quiet Welsh community is recovering after getting the shock of their lives - seeing a flash of lightning rip through a 120-year-old chapel in their village and start a small fire. The frightening weather phenomenon happened in Rhewl, near Llangollen, in Denbighshire on the evening of Saturday, June 10 and saw fire crews rush to the scene to manage the flames and support the community.
After being hit by the lightning strike, the Gothic-style Methodist chapel, rebuilt in 1903, was left with a "gaping hole," two smashed windows, a damaged roof, missing bricks - some of which were strewn as far as 40-metres away - and a missing cross from its roof, reports NorthWalesLive.
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said it was called to a fire in the chapel building at 6.51pm and confirmed it sent two crews to the scene, one from Wrexham and the other from Llangollen.
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Witness Brad Beazley, who runs a photography studio which overlooks the chapel, saw the lightning strike - and said he and his family immediately dived behind a sofa for cover.
"My son, my partner and myself were sat on our balcony watching and hearing the incoming storm," he said. "It was rumbling non-stop for around 45 minutes.
“The clouds above the house slowly went black and suddenly it began raining, very heavily. We went back into lounge to watch the storm from there, leaving the balcony doors open. There was so much rain that the view was just murky grey.
“All of a sudden there was a big white flash and an almighty bang. I can only describe it as a massive electric socket blowing! We didn’t see a long bolt of lightning, just whiteness around one particular zone at tree-top height. We live 400 to 500 metres from the chapel on the hillside above, but the strike felt like it was only 100ft away."
“We all shot behind [the] sofa in disbelief. The electrics went off in the house and car alarms began blaring in the area," he added. "I was thinking, thank goodness we weren’t touching water at the time. When the electrics did come back on, the cooker, computers and TV had all tripped themselves."
Mr Beazley later drove closer to the chapel to see if anyone there needed any help. He said when he arrived, a fire engine was already on-site and around 15 residents had been watching the lightning storm.
"Shortly afterwards, two other emergency vehicles arrived. The firefighters managed to force open the chapel doors whilst they sprayed the roof of the building," he added. "Bricks above the lower window were blown outwards and left strewn across 40 metres. By this time, around 15 quick-response firefighters were at attendance. Most of the fire was out by the time the crews arrived."
Local residents believe the damage to the chapel happened as the lightning strike may have passed through the chapel's roof, before blowing out the two windows. Photos from the scene show damage to an upper window and to brick sections around a lower window. A stone cross at the top of the building was also blasted away by the force of the lightning.
As well as damage to the chapel, several trees in the village are said to have been struck by lightning and locals say they experienced power cuts and "fried telephones".
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