Cheshire fire crews had one of their busiest nights for years as a powerful storm swept across south and mid Cheshire last night.
Worst hit was the Tarporley, Beeston, Tattenhall and Malpas areas as lightning sparked fires and flood waters left cars submerged and buildings under water.
Portal Hotel on Cobblers Cross Lane, Tarporley was hit by flash flooding as huge amounts of water rushed down a hill into the building.
The flooding caused a part of the ceiling to collapse and impacted the electrics. All occupants were evacuated and moved to a safe location and crews isolated the electrics.
A number of homes on Eaton Road were also hit by floods on the ground floor as fire crews helped householders to move belongings to first floor safety.
And a pub on High Street in Tarporley also had flood water pumped out of the building.
Shortly after, a car was found stuck in floodwater underneath a railway bridge in nearby Beeston.
The water was around one metre deep, and occupants managed to scramble clear of the vehicle. There were no reports of any injuries.
There were also homes flooded in Tattenhall, Kelsall and Malpas.
A semi-detached house in Malpas was badly damaged by fire caused by a lightning strike.
Cheshire Fire crews from Audlem and Chester found the roof of the property well alight, and firefighters were on scene through the night to extinguish the blaze and make the building safe.
The A41 near Whitchurch was also blocked for a time as storm winds brought down large tree branches, which fire crews were called to clear.
Weather forecasters say Yellow Warnings of more thunderstorms remain in place for Cheshire East and the North West over the next three days as the hot weather continues.
These dramatic images captured by Paul Hill show the powerful storm as it tracked west across South Cheshire towards Wales.
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