A sleeping pensioner had a miraculous escape when a bolt of lightning shot through her roof and missed her by INCHES.
The strike smashed a huge hole in 73-year-old Lily Miller’s roof as she lay in bed, flashing inches past her head and crashing through the floor into the lounge below.
Shocking pictures shows the destruction with charred roof lining hanging through the hole in her ceiling and debris scattered over her front garden.
The lightning struck in Walmer Bridge, Leylands, Lancs early on Wednesday as thunderstorms followed the hottest day of the year.
Lily, who was shocked but otherwise unhurt, said: “I’m so lucky to be alive.
“There was an enormous bang. It was just like a bomb going off.
“I was lying on one side of the bed – had I been on the other side it would have hit me.
“The explosion woke me and when I opened my eyes the bedroom was full of dust and debris.
“I got up, climbed over heavy breeze blocks which had crashed through the ceiling and I just got out of there.
“I couldn’t believe what I saw.
“There was a huge hole in the roof and another through the floor into the lounge and the office downstairs. A neighbour came to help me. I was shaken.”
Two other neighbouring houses were also hit by lightening during the storm.
The fire brigade were called iinitial reports one of the houses was on fire but it turned out to be a false alarm.
The brigade said: “There was no fire. But firefighters confirmed occupants were safe.”
The volunteer-staffed Red Cross Fire Emergency Support Service, which looks after people displaced by emergencies, have offered Lily temporary accommodation.
But she said: “I won’t be leaving here, despite the damage. I’m staying put.”
