Woman narrowly avoids injury after lightning strikes shop.

A KIRKBY Lonsdale woman had a narrow escape when lightning struck the shop she was working in as a violent thunderstorm engulfed the town.

Jane Peel was chatting to a friend in her jewellery store, Amulet, on Market Street, when she saw a flash of blue as a bolt of lightning struck the awning outside the shop.

"It was quite frightening," she said. "I felt the air change and then the alarm started going off."

Eye witness Allan Muirhead described a scene reminiscent of a horror movie: "It was unbelievable when it happened. The rain was torrential and the thunder and lightning happened almost instantaneously."

Many of the shops in the vicinity were also affected by the lightning.

The computer system at Dalescrest Travel across the street crashed and the local electrical store was doing brisk trade selling fuses to shopkeepers.

Meanwhile, the rainwater was running like a river down Main Street and staff at the Snooty Fox Hotel had to battle to prevent the bar being flooded and managed to restrict the water to the entrance hall.

There was also widespread flooding caused by the atrocious weather conditions across the county on Tuesday.

There were reports of deep surface water on the A5087 at the entrance of Conishead Priory, near Ulverston, and three inches of water was reported on the A685 near Newbiggin-on-Lune.

With severe weather warnings still in place across parts of the region, the Highways Agency advised motorists to take extra care on the roads by driving slowly through surface water and testing brakes before increasing speed.