AN EAST Lothian resident has told how a redwood tree, likely to be more than 150 years old, "exploded" due to last night's thundersnow storm.
Victoria Bailie, of Carberry Courtyard, Carberry, was awoken early this morning to what she described as "a large explosion".
She said an ancient redwood, also known as sequoia, in Carberry Estate, Carberry, south of Musselburgh, “exploded quite dramatically” after being struck by lightning.
The tree - estimated to be about 35 foot tall and two and a half metres in diameter - is thought to have been planted in the mid-late 1800s.
She took these pictures of what remains of the redwood, which is not far from Carberry Tower.
Parts of the trunk and branches can be seen scattered across the woodland floor.
The noise woke up her and everyone in her house, with Victoria saying they were all “up instantly”.
READ MORE: Thundersnow brings disruption to East Lothian
She said: “The tree exploded quite dramatically after taking a hit during last night’s thundersnow storms.
“It is less than 400 metres from our home and the sound just after 4:30am was like a large explosion and we quickly got up to see what had happened.”
Work has since begun on clearing the debris.
Elsewhere, the lightning was so bright that it managed to turn on solar lights in the middle of the night.
Carla Black told the Courier that all of the solar lights in her garden illuminated and stayed lit for 10 minutes.
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