Hail stones the size of golf balls smashed car windows and caused flash floods after a village was hit by freak weather as Britain's barmy heatwave continued.
Residents living in Kibworth Beauchamp, Leics., were left counting the cost after a storm caused thousands of pounds worth of damage on Tuesday evening (20/7).Shocking pictures show massive 5cm (1.9ins) hail stones and properties submerged in water following the "apocalyptic" and "Armageddon-like" scenes.
Care homes and sheltered housing were also evacuated when hail smashed glass and corridors were flooded as a months' worth of rain fell in just 30 minutes.Dad-of-two Kevin Messenger, 39, had his VW Polo windscreen smashed while Katie Jaffar's new Porsche was left covered in dents.
IT manager Kevin, of Kibworth Beauchamp, said: "It was about 6pm when the heavens just opened."The hails stones were huge, I've never seen anything like it.
The only thing I can compare it to was monsoon season when I went to Thailand.
"The hail was that severe it smashed the back windscreen of my car, I know other people in the village who had their car windows smashed too.
"But we got off lightly because some houses flooded and the local primary school roof collapsed.
"It all happened so quickly, it only lasted about 45 minutes but the damage was far reaching.
It was crazy really."The damage must be running into the hundreds if not thousands of pounds.
But just a few hundred metres down the road it stayed gloriously sunny.
"You don't expect it in this country but after the heat we have been having, the storms are bound to come."It was a surreal experience.
One minute you are basking in the glorious sunshine, and then all of a sudden the noise started echoing around the house."I was gutted about the car but I do feel fortunate and a bit grateful definitely as there have been worse-impacted people than me." Mum-of-two Katie Jaffar, 46, said both of their family cars were a "total write-off" following the torrential downpour.She said: "One minute the kids were playing with their friends in the paddling pool and it was gloriously hot."The next minute huge dollops of rain started falling and then it turned into hail - huge lumps of it thundering down."It was so fast, it was pretty terrifying.
It sounded like gun shots.
"We went from sunshine to having a stream running outside our front door in around 15 minutes.
"That was the most frightening thing, how quickly it all happened."Our new Porsche has huge dents all over it, my husband is gutted as we only recently got it and its his pride and joy." She said the force of the hail also smashed through a large skylight at her mother's home nearby and water flooded the corridor.Mrs Jaffar added: "She had to be evacuated from the top floor of her sheltered accommodation and I know a care home had to be evacuated as well."Our neighbours' cellars are flooded and there was water up to the front door.
It was just so scary how quickly it happened and the damage it caused."Mum-of-one Emily Bevan, 29, added: "It was like something from a disaster movie, it was apocalyptic.
I have never seen weather like this in Britain."The noise of it was just deafening as well.
It was bonkers."Dad-of-two Paul Arscott, a market researcher, said: "The roads were nuts."Everyone pulled up on grass verges and pavements trying to hide under trees or bridges.
"It was like some Armageddon film."Leicestershire Police said it closed the A6 Harborough Road, at Kibworth, in both directions due to flooding.