 Wet ground and previous winds may have weakened the trees |
A lightning strike in a Cornish village set fire to a garage and damaged a number of properties. The bolt blew out windows in properties at Point near Truro and left many houses without power.
The lightning strike in the early hours of Tuesday morning hit an electricity pole, which then sent flames shooting down to a nearby garage.
In Devon a gust of wind, described by residents as a "mini tornado", uprooted seven trees in Laira, Plymouth.
Combination
BBC weatherman David Braine says lightning strikes can occur anywhere at anytime if weather conditions are right.
He said: "The trees in Plymouth were probably uprooted by severe gusts of wind.
"It could be a combination of very wet ground and the possibility the trees had been weakened by two previous strong wind events in the past couple of weeks.
"The trees appear to have been in a line and one could have knocked the others over like a domino effect."
One-Minute World News 
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