Exactly how a lightning bolt a caused huge Oxfordshire recycling centre blast

03 October 2023 , 12:20

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Residents were shocked by a fireball explosion which lit the sky over Oxfordshire on Monday night (Image: https://twitter.com/Knocker)

Thousands of Brits were rocked by the sight of a fireball in the sky overnight.

The Biblical scenes unfolded in Oxfordshire on Monday night as the UK was battered by a thunderstorms. Residents from miles away witnessed the sky glowing orange as the fireball pulsed.

But the unusual phenomena has now been explained as an explosion at a waste plant, which it's revealed was hit by lightning. A bolt struck, igniting gas at the plant at the Cassington AD facility, near Yarnton, Oxon., overnight, causing a large fire to break out.

Severn Trent Green Power confirmed the fire had occurred at the facility in a statement posted on Facebook, revealing a digester tank was struck by lightning at around 7.20pm, causing the gases within the tank to ignite. Thankfully, nobody was injured in the blaze and emergency services working to secure the site.

The frightening glow could be seen from miles around, including neighbouring counties (@Brand_Stu_Dad/X)

Thames Valley Police said the A40 had been closed between Wolvercote and Eynsham, and urged residents to stay home and shut windows and doors. Videos began circulating on social media on Monday showing a large fireball and the sky in the area pulsing an orange colour.

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Jack Frowde, 34, from Oxford, who works at Oxford University, said: "I was sitting in my kitchen when the whole room lit up with a brilliant white light, then followed by a huge crack which sounded like really heavy thunder. I looked out of the kitchen window and it was as if the sky was pulsating orange. I ran to the back to capture the orange glow as it faded after about 20 seconds."

Stuart Hosking, in his 50s, from Oxford, an AI business director and former contestant on Big Brother, said: "We were pretty close. I thought it was the sun setting, until I saw the flickering and smoke. The lights flickered in the house then a flash, then a rumble like thunder, but a single bang."

Susie Beever