‘Explosion’ in London: Mystery over Hackney loud bang solved as Londoners dial 999 for police and fire brigade

Londoners were given a fright on Monday evening as a loud ‘bang’ in Hackney took place which some locals claimed shook their houses.

Preceded by a flash in the sky and a rumble, the bang could be heard as far as the South-East of England, with many in North and East London calling emergency services to report an ‘explosion’ as plumes of smoke poured into the night sky.

The London Fire Brigade also confirmed that after repeated phone calls and venturing to the scene that there was no fire, nor any signs of an explosion, which ultimately led to Hackney Police solving the case.

The blame it would seem rests solely on nature itself, as the police force tweeted to their followers.

“We’ve received several calls about loud bangs in the Stoke Newington area this evening. No major incidents have been reported to us.

“The noise appears to have been caused by thunder and lightning,” the force confirmed, with the London Fire Brigade also stating: “Firefighters carried out an extensive search of the local area after reports of an explosion on Belfast Road in Hackney.

“They found no signs of smoke or fire.”

Blitzortung, a website dedicated to users supplying information regarding lighting strikes and thunder storms, reported that a strike did occur in North London between the hours of 5:25pm and 6:25pm.

This time frame matches up with the loud explosions, rumbles and flash in the sky many Londoners were frightened by on Monday evening.

The Met Office had not issued any guidance regarding thunder or lightning across the London region for Monday, however the phenomenon could be put down as a case of streak lightning - a singular bolt of lightning rather than its forked counterpart that can randomly strike in the correct weather conditions.

The Met Office also conducted research to show that helicopters can also cause an isolated lightning strike, as while flying a helicopter acquires a negative charge.

If it flies close to an area that is positively charged (e.g. hail or a positively charged part of a cumulonimbus cloud) it can trigger a lightning strike.