Lightning bolt blitz batters east coast of Australia
Lightning strikes battered the east coast of Australia on Thursday night, giving viewers a frightening yet spectacular light show.
Bright cracks of lightning zigzagged through Sydney's CBD and illuminated the sky as thunder roared across the city.
Multiple videos of the light show were posted online and showed several purple bolts turn the night sky to day.
The storm came one day after Sydney was graced with warm temperatures and lasted less than one hour.
Wind gusts of 140km/hr were recorded across central NSW and residents in Queensland were also battered with strong winds that tore down trees and a shed in the Lockyer Valley.
Energex’s lightning strike counter recorded 1,005,447 hits across southeast Queensland from the last six days.
Meanwhile on the Gold Coast, five-year-old Hudson was electrocuted by lightning when he turned on the shower on the Gold Coast.
His mother, Crystal Nicolaou, told 7 News the bolt came out of her son's body and through the top of his right shoulder.
She said her son let out a blood-curdling squeal and ran to find his body "hot and on fire".
Ms Nicolaou said the crack was the biggest she had ever heard and it lit up their backyard.
“The whole backyard lit up, it was just white,” she said. “You couldn’t see anything.”
Today's top news stories – December 9
