Emergency crews are working to restore power to thousands of homes after the Midlands was struck by storms for a second day.

Experts say the region was left reeling from 17,000 strikes of lightning since Monday.

Severe flooding hit parts of Leicestershire, with Whitick, Coalville, Lutterworth, Hinckley, and Loughborough all badly affected.

The Leicestershire Fire Service said it received about 300 calls in four hours.

Lightning strikes

Fire crews were forced to tell anyone with less than a foot of floodwater they could not help them.

Isobel Hoseason, from East Midlands Electricity, said about 12,500 people were still without power in the region.

She said: "We have hundreds of engineers working on the problem.

"We also expect more cuts today as more lightning is forecast."

Lightning has caused many of the power failures

She added that, according to Met Office figures, the East Midlands was hit by 17,000 lightning strikes since the bad weather started on Monday.

The Environment Agency warned residents near the River Soar in Leicestershire from Cossington to Cotes to be prepared for possible flooding.

Oliver Blackburn, of the Environment Agency, said: "Some people may need to take precautions if they live close to these areas of the River Soar."

Marooned

About 2,000 in the Shelton Lock area of Derby were without electricity after a lightning strike caused a power cut.

The bad weather also caused problems across Lincolnshire, disrupting electricity supplies to 4,000 homes.

In Nottinghamshire, at least 1,500 properties are still without power.

Meanwhile, police and fire crews had to rescue several people from a building in Glossop, Derbyshire, after floodwater trapped them.

And a motorist in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, had to be rescued by firefighters after he became marooned in his car.