After blazing sun, thunder, lightning, hail and floods yesterday, twisters may be seen in Scotland today

A FAMILY were forced to flee their home when a lightning bolt set it ablaze as freakish weather swept across Scotland yesterday.

They were watching television, unaware lightning had struck their home in East Dunbartonshire during a thunderstorm.

It was only when neighbours began banging on their door to tell them their roof was on fire that they realised the danger.

The blaze in Corn Mill Road, Lenzie, gutted the roof of the house in what was the worst of a series of weather-related incidents.

While neighbourhoods just a few miles away were bathed in sunshine, parts of Scotland were hit by downpours, storms, hailstones, floods and a warning of twisters on the way.

The family had been watching TV early yesterday evening when the set suddenly lost power and died.

Neighbours then hammered on the door to warn them their roof was ablaze after being hit by a lightning bolt.

Firefighters were there quickly and found the roof of the house ablaze with thick black smoke billowing from the burning roof.

Last night, Police Scotland said they were assisting Scottish Fire & Rescue with the “ongoing incident”.

Freak weather caused chaos across central Scotland yesterday, with drivers on the M9 south of Dunblane forced to pull over as hailstones battered vehicles, reducing visibility and causing delays.

The hail, which started around 4.30pm, had been predicted earlier in a yellow Be Aware warning from the Met Office covering huge stretches of the country.

Strathclyde, Central, Tayside, Fife, Scottish Borders and Grampian were listed as all being at risk of severe hail storms, with up to 20mm of rain falling in an hour in some of the worst hit areas.

Rail travellers were also hit by flash floods at Dalmuir, near Clydebank.

Met Office weatherman Peter Sloss last night warned the freak weather was not at an end.

He said mini-tornadoes, known as twisters, which had been reported in Cumbria, may be seen across Scotland. They are caused by unusually hot air moving at speed.

He said: “Cumbria and the Lakes have seen a lot of thunderstorms, and what we are seeing is not like the tornadoes we see in America.

“What we are getting here are the smaller version, caused by spinning air being sucked up into the clouds.

“A big updraft produces funnel clouds. We’re experiencing the same weather conditions as Cumbria, and if people have their phone cameras at the ready, we might easily see footage.”

Mr Sloss said Loch Lomond faced some of the worst of the thunderstorms, and hot air over the past week acted as a “trigger” for heavy downpours and unstable conditions.

He said the hailstorms which brought the M9 to a standstill were “rare”.

Mr Sloss added: “This generally only happens when severe heat triggers thunderstorms.”

Angus, the Lothians, Aberdeenshire and the Borders may experience more thunderstorms today but these will not be as severe.

The Met Office say cooler Atlantic air coming in along with lighter skies into the middle part of next week will turn the weather to unsettled, wet and windy.

But we are unlikely to see a repeat of the thunderstorms from this weekend.