PEOPLE in Flintshire reported being woken up by an intense flash of light in the early hours of this morning.

The flash, which lasted for fractions of a second, happened just after 4am.

Seconds later it was followed by a long, low rumble of thunder.

One Connah's Quay resident checked their security camera footage this morning to see if they had dreamt the flash or if it was real.

They were surprised to see they had caught the phenomenon on camera.

They said: "It was at 4:08am. The flash literally covered the area."

"I got woken up to it. I thought it was in my dream at first until I checked the camera. The rumble went on for so long too and didn't sound like normal thunder either."

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Another resident in Shotton also experienced the flash.

They said: "It was an intense flash, the best way I can describe it is being like the flash from a speed camera. It lit up the room even though the blinds were closed. A few seconds later there was a low rumble of thunder."

There was thunder and lighting in North Wales overnight and this morning.

The Met Office recorded an actual lightning strike in the sea off the Denbighshire coast at 4.17am.

The intensity of the lightning could be due to a rare phenomenon known as thundersnow when, it if is cold enough, rain associated with a thunderstorm can fall as snow.

When thundersnow occurs at night the lightning can appear brighter because it reflects off the snowflakes.