Thunder bolts! did your grannies open the front n back door to let the Thunderbold roll through!

My MIL was terrified of thunder and lightening, she`d sit with a tea towel over her head till it was all over. Myself, I`d rather be outside than in during thunderstorms, once plonked our then 2 kiddies into their pushchair and walked the mile and a half to MIL`s house in a thunderstorm, got absolutely soaked to the skin, and then she was out when we got there!

Jingle, I am sure he saw it. When my husband was in uniform and on nights he was walking up an empty Main Street in the town, raging storm , a ball of lightening rolled across the street directly in front of him, his gripe was he wished he had a camera with him and at the ready !

There's hope for me yet then, oldgreymare. I'm still scared of it!

It has taken years to conquer the fear of lightning instilled in me by my Victorian Gran. She hid all cutlery away, covered mirrors and cowered behind cushions. As a Key St. 1 teacher I had do hide my fear less I transmit it to the children.... I suppose doing that for so long 'conditioned' me.. self administered NLP I suppose

DH and I were caught in a hailstorm in Wales, must have been the early eighties. The sky went very dark seemed as if it were night time instead of day, then huge hailstones started coming down. They actually dented the roof and bonnet of our hire car. We bought a local newspaper to prove to the hire company that hail had been the cause.

When DS1 was a baby, we had a freak hailstorm which tore huge holes in the rhubarb leaves and created havoc in our still developing garden. The hailstones, like golfballs, sounded like machine gun bullets hitting the windows and DS1 slept through it all.

A bolt of lightning hit the pavement in front of me and my 2 DDs coming out of a ballet class ( approx 35 yrs ago!) Scary!

DS and DIL were hit by giant hail stones last night and have between thirty and forty holes in their conservatory roof, it is going to need a new roof. He didn't say whether the cars were damaged but I bet there are a few dents.

When my son was about eleven he swore that he saw ball lightning roll across the school playing field. They were sitting on the carpet having a story and he was looking out of the window. He still swears today that he saw it.

My DH's step-grandfather and aunt were killed, struck by lightning, sheltering under a tree on Wandsworth Common (1914)

We were sitting in a restaurant overlooking the golf course in Harlech when the storm clouds were gathering before the most spectacular thunderstorm I have witnessed since we lived in the Far East (where they were commonplace). Golfers could not help but be aware that the worst was to hand, but hung on manfully until lightening started forking in all directions and then they ran for their lives! It was very entertaining until the storm knocked the electricity out in the restaurant and they had to abandon the kitchen and put candles on all the tables so that we could see each other!

I love a good storm, it usually clears the air after horrible hot humid weather (that's what turns the milk sour)
My grandmother had to cover up mirrors and put away anything shiny, like cutlery, because they would "draw the lightning". She had a superstition for every occasion.

A spectacular thunderstorm in Durham yesterday and a house in Darlington lost most of its roof. We had hail but Sacriston way they had snowball sized ones. Lots of sheet lightning and forked lightning. The garden appreciated the rain

My grandmother used to collect all the knives and forks in the skirt of her pinnie and hide in the cupboard under the stairs. My mother always talked about the first time she went to tea and they heard thunder, my Grandmother rushed around the table grabbing their cutlery.

oh and apparently thunder turns milk sour! maybe that was in the days of no fridges!

Even in adulthood, my older sister, a normally rational and down to earth individual, was terrified of thunder storms. She would hide in the cupboard under the stairs and refuse to come out until assured that the last growl had dissipated!

My mother did it too, South Wales

My grandmother and mother used to hide all the knives and forks and unplug anything plugged in (East London).

Greyduster yes, it's the manifesation of that thunder and lightning meeting at once and somehow forming an object that is said to be able to 'roll through houses.' Who has ever actually seen that happen for people to think they had to open doors to let it through? Can't envisage it.

Spectacular thunder and lightning here 12 - 2am.
Kept me awake but didn't wake 2 sleeping DGCs so no calming down needed.
I've never heard of opening windows and doors.

My aunt opens all doors and windows. We're in Yorkshire.

mixed tenses there

I've seen some spectacular lightning storms in my life. One one occasion, giant bolts of green lightning striking the earth as if some Supreme Being is throwing multiple javelins. The lightning literally ran across the ground till it disappeared.

There is something incredibly energising about thunderstorms, I think it has something to do with ions (Where that came from I have no idea!) Anyway, I love them.

My mother used to do it. I never got the hang of how this thing was supposed to manifest itself though!

Is a thunderbolt the same as a bolt from the blue?