Residents across Denbighshire in North Wales were startled by the rare weather phenomenon overnight as the sky filled with orange and white light before snow peppered the ground
A thunderous crash shook windows during the night as locals witnessed flashes of white, orange and green as snow started to fall across parts of North Wales.
Taking to social media to share their experiences, residents described sounds varying from a “crashing plane” to “snow sliding off the roof”. Many admitted being startled by the noise, which echoed across an area stretching from St Asaph to Nantglyn and Saron.
Shortly after midnight, a Denbigh woman reported: “It was so loud and the room filled with white and orange light for a few moments. Our cat almost had a cardiac arrest! Weird!”.
Another resident commented: “I felt it too, was so strange. Thought someone was in my attic.”
The general agreement is that the area had just witnessed “thundersnow”, an almost legendary weather event that’s recognisable yet eerily misplaced. Whilst it happens most winters somewhere across the UK, it’s seldom observed, reports North Wales Live.
Thundersnow is exactly what it suggests – a thunderstorm where snow falls rather than rain, usually when a cold air mass moves over comparatively warm sea.
During the night, just one lightning strike was officially logged over North Wales, a few miles west of St Asaph. Since then the Met Office has documented three more, all in northern Scotland.
When thundersnow strikes at night, the lightning appears brighter as the light reflects off the snowflakes. Netweather explains that this reflected light can create peculiar effects, making the spectacle even more striking.
This morning, places like Ruthin and Llannefydd woke up to a few inches of snow, which reportedly muffles the sound of thunder.
Typically, this means the sound radius is limited – but the St Asaph strike was heard some eight miles away in Saron. Light overnight snow was also reported in the Bala area, with a sprinkling in Wrexham.
“I thought my bins had blown over,” one woman shared. Another exclaimed: “It made me jump!” More dramatically, a third added: “Sounded like a Lambourghini went past with a big flash.”
Unlike the usual white flashes seen in regular thunderstorms, people reported seeing flickers of orange and green too. This left several individuals feeling uneasy.
A woman from Denbigh said: “We saw orange and white light but it passed across the room as though coming from a plane. Gave me a fright!”.
A woman from St Asaph reported hearing her windows rattle. Another added: “My cat flew off my bed! ! !” Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox.
For weather experts, lightning amidst a snowstorm can signal significant snowfall. In November, the Met Office put out a thundersnow warning for Scotland and northeast England.
The most recent one in Wales was issued in early January 2022.