Lightning strikes caused 15 house fires in the Milton Keynes area on Monday evening as storms created havoc across central and northern England.

Flash flooding swamped homes and roads in Nottinghamshire and Buckinghamshire during the thunderstorms.

In Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Suffolk, thousands of homes were still without electricity on Tuesday morning.

There have been no reports of any injuries.

Roads were swamped in Nottingham

In Buckinghamshire, the electrical storms and heavy rain meant a hectic evening for fire crews.

The brigade control room dealt with nearly 500 calls from 1800 BST to 2300 BST, with crews attending 160 cases.

As well as the 15 house fires and one barn fire, the teams had to tackle 52 cases of flooding.

In Nottinghamshire, more than 200 calls were answered by the fire service after sunshine turned to torrential rain during Monday evening.

Roads in the Old Basford area of the city were under four feet of water in places, and part of Arnold Way was reported to have collapsed.

Further rain on Tuesday morning caused more problems in the Bulwell area.

One part of the River Leen burst its banks and drains could not cope with the volume of water.

Percy Street, Lincoln Street and David Lane in Old Basford were closed and a stretch of nearby railway track was also affected.

There was also minor flooding in Cambridgeshire, although no cases of major damage were reported.

Power cuts

In Leicestershire, firefighters received around 80 weather related calls on Monday evening.

About 10,000 people in the county were still without electricity at 1000 BST on Tuesday.

Some areas had been without power since 1700 BST on Monday.

In Northamptonshire, engineers worked through the night in an attempt to restore power to 6,000 homes.

And in Suffolk, residents of Great Finborough near Stowmarket were cut off for most of the day on Monday.

More than 500 homes and business in Kesgrave were without power on Tuesday morning.

The storms spread west on Tuesday, causing flooding in the Lancashire towns of Burnley, Blackburn and Darwen.

The Environment Agency has issued a flood alert for people living close to rivers and streams across Merseyside, Cheshire and West Lancashire following a Met Office warning of heavy rain until early evening.