But while most of us were entranced by the continuous thunder and flashes, it was the heavy downpours that were taxing our firefighters.
All four of the borough’s crews were kept busy from early evening to early this morning attending to street and property floods here and elsewhere.
Four homes in St Ambrose Road, Astley had water either coming up through the floorboards and doors or their electrics damaged by water that, at one point, was knee deep in the street.
Atherton crews spent two hours pumping the water to drains higher up the road to ease the problems.
They had been called out to that emergency at 10.30pm, only minutes after spending two and a half hours in Coniston Road, Hindley, where water was coming up through the drains and threatening a number of homes there.
Thankfully, due to drain clearance by the crews plus the arrival of sandbags from the council, home floodings were averted.
The health centre next to Leigh Infirmary, however, was not so lucky. Wigan’s crew attended to find water streaming through the roof and this in turn knocked out the alarm.
The same crew also attended the Hollywood Bowl in Horwich which had to be closed due to flooding and the electricity supply needed to be isolated.
Meanwhile Greater Manchester Police traffic officers and firefighters had to rescue a car stranded in floodwater on the East Lancashire Road near Astley.
But those who took the pictures of the storm say they’ve rarely seen or heard anything like it for many a year.
