Rare video footage shows massive thunderbolt hit the sea just off the coast of England amid weather warning

Rare video footage has captured the moment a lightning bolt crashes into the sea just off the coast of England. The footage was taken at the coast just outside Portland in Dorset.

The massive thunderbolt was captured on video slamming straight into the sea at 3:15 pm on Sunday, October 23. The lightning causes the area to light up in a bright flash before disappearing again just as quickly.

The footage was taken by Charlotte Chapman, a 32 year old stock control supervisor for a bookers wholesaler. She said about the rare footage: "All I’ve done is stare out to sea since I’ve been home.

“I’ve missed this so much and taken it for granted when I lived here as a child and young adult - hence after a quick weekend break with my partner, we both decided to move back home. This picture was taken from the top of Woolcombe Road. I had been watching the storm coming in and managed to get a video and freeze framed this amazing shot."

Lightning bolts very rarely strike water, despite it covering 70 percent of the Earth’s surface. Experts at NASA estimate that only around two percent of all lightning strikes occur on water, which is what makes this footage so rare.

Portland is a small isolated island just off the coast of Dorset, connected to the coast via a small sandbar. The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning in the area over the weekend, warning about heavy rain and thunderstorms.