FLASH flooding hit Oxford yesterday leaving one unlucky driver stuck under the railway bridge in Botley Road.

The motorist had to push his Nissan Micra out of the ankle-deep water after a torrential storm opened up over the city just before 10am.

Long tailbacks were caused as others drivers were forced to inch their way under the bridge.

The brief storm also saw lightning strikes around the county.

Nigel and Jill Cowell’s home in Mill Lane, Old Marston, was one of those hit, although there was no major damage.

Several roof tiles were destroyed and there were scorch marks in a study.

Mrs Cowell, 66, said: “There was an almighty bang and if I was upstairs when it happened I am sure I might have had a heart attack.

“I could smell burning in the study but couldn’t see a fire and then went outside and saw the damage to the roof.”

Rhodri Jones, 13, was visiting a neighbour when it happened. He said: “It was scary. There was a big blue flash and all the power went out.”

Thames Valley Police’s Kidlington headquarters was also hit by lightning.

Spokeswoman Lucy Billen said: “A communication mast was struck by lightning which affected the telephones.

“However calls to 999 and 101 were not affected.”

About 500 homes were without power in Middleton Stoney, Bucknell, Chesterton and Caulcott with Southern Electric saying it could have been caused by a lightning strike.

Commuters faced delays after lightning strikes in Birmingham caused signalling problems for CrossCountry trains.

The Met Office yesterday issued a yellow warning of rain in Oxfordshire.

It came just 24 hours after the hottest temperature so far this year was recorded in Oxfordshire, with the mercury at Benson reaching 32.6 degrees Celsius on Monday.

Ian Ashpole, of Oxford University’s Radcliffe Meteorological Station, measured 9.9mm of rainfall.

Before then there had been just 1.7mm of rain in the month and this June and July looked set to be the driest two months for 195 years.

Mr Ashpole said: “It’s still pretty dry, but not as extreme as we initially thought.

“On one day in July last year 27.8mm fell which is three times that recorded yesterday and in October last year the highest we had was 37mm.” South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust revealed it had a surge in calls because of the hot weather over the weekend.