WILTSHIRE Fire & Rescue Service attended over 30 incidents related to the weather during the day on Saturday.

Control received in excess of 100 calls as a severe storm swept over the county, with West Wiltshire particularly affected.

Seven calls related to properties struck by lightning:

Giffords Court, Melksham at 1.34am – a small fire in a fire panel after a lightning strike, which was out on arrival, attended by a crew from Trowbridge.

Devonshire Road, Salisbury at 1.49am – a small fire in the roof of a house following a lightning strike. Two crews from Salisbury and one from Wilton attended, and an aerial appliance from Southampton was sent to assist with external inspection.

Vale View, Royal Wootton Bassett at 2.24am – lightning strike to a chimney, a crew from Bassett attended and inspected the property using a thermal imaging camera.

Vale View, Royal Wootton Bassett at 3.15am – lightning strike to property which destroyed a satellite box, crew from Bassett attended and inspected the property using a thermal imaging camera.

Berryfield Road, Bradford on Avon at 9.48am – a crew from Trowbridge carried out a full inspection of a house with a thermal imaging camera following a lightning strike.

Larkham Rise, Chippenham at 1.39pm – four properties affected by lightning, with a small fire in one. Two crews, from Chippenham and Corsham, attended and carried out full inspections to ensure that the homes were safe.

During the day, flood calls were received from properties in Box, Dilton Marsh, Sherston, Southwick, Bradford on Avon, Atworth, Corsham, Hilperton, Devizes and Brinkworth.

However, Trowbridge suffered from the weather the most, with nine separate incidents being attended within a few hours – these were at Lambrok Road, St John’s Crescent, Kitchener’s Court, Sycamore Grove, Wyke Road, the town park and Dursley Road.

Although there was a two hour strike by members of the Fire Brigades’ Union between 11am and 1pm, this did not impact on the storm response, as the main problems were either earlier or later in the day.

Area Manager John Popowicz said: “This was an extraordinary storm which caused a great deal of surface water in a very short space of time. I would give particular praise to our Control room staff, who handled a significant number of calls and also ensured that we maintained resources across the county.”