This is the electrifying moment the Beetham Tower in Manchester was struck by lightning.
A bolt of lightning hit the roof of the 47-storey skyscraper during a violent summer storm on Thursday morning.
Click on the video player (right) to see the footage.
Video technician Andrew Cooper captured the dramatic scene when he set up a webcam in his office window at Manchester University.
Andrew, 42, posted the footage on YouTube, and slowed down the film to fully demonstrate the awesome power of the lightning strike.
Plane damaged as storm strikes
He said: “I put the camera in my window because I could see there was a big storm brewing. It was only running for about ten minutes when it filmed the lightning strike.”
Andrew added: “I have always enjoyed watching storms and I just thought I would put the camera up. I never thought it would get such a dramatic strike, it’s just a shame that I didn’t have a better camera on it – all I was using was a £50 webcam.
“There was quite a bang of thunder afterwards, it was a really spectacular storm.”
The bolt of lightning hit the 554 ft (169m) tall tower - Manchester's tallest building - on Deansgate at 9.20 am on Thursday.
Architect Ian Simpson lives in the Penthouse apartment at the top of the tower but a spokeswoman said he was away in London at the time.
The Hilton Hotel occupies the lower 23 floors of the building and the higher floors are apartments. Premiership footballer Phil Neville is among those who own an apartment in the tower.
There were no reports of any damage caused to the building.
Showing comments 1 to 25 and replies | View All
Guten Tag, Manchester (30/07/2009 at 16:53)
Zimmerman, manchester (30/07/2009 at 16:55)
SalfordMadLad, South East London (30/07/2009 at 17:19)
jacko1234 (30/07/2009 at 17:20)
Andanotherthing, Mcr (30/07/2009 at 17:22)
Sheikh Rattle 'n' Roll With It, Bury (30/07/2009 at 17:35)
alan quinn (30/07/2009 at 17:37)
Well done to the film crew!
Mike, Manchester (30/07/2009 at 17:49)
As i understand it, lighning strikes start from the ground by creating a conductive path which allows the charged air to discharge along it.
Harry Roberts , Oldham (30/07/2009 at 17:51)
Mike, Manchester (30/07/2009 at 17:55)
alec dicks, manchester (30/07/2009 at 18:08)
bubbob, manchester (30/07/2009 at 18:10)
Andanotherthing, Mcr
30/07/2009 at 17:22
Read the full article before commenting next time!!!
Whats to say it didnt hit something directly behind the tower anyway?
Growler (30/07/2009 at 19:30)
Mr Red, Stockport (30/07/2009 at 19:33)
Bubbob..
Lightening strikes the highest object in the sky at the point of the storm. Betham towers stands head and shoulders above the rest of the Manchester sky line.. Does this answer your question?
Supreme Being, Manchester. (30/07/2009 at 19:41)
judge dredd, manchester (30/07/2009 at 19:51)
Maynard Kitchener Lampwick. Manchester., (30/07/2009 at 19:53)
Andanotherthing, Mcr (30/07/2009 at 20:00)
I read the full article..........He did not wake up as.
It's City Time !, enduring the ups and downs since 1978 (30/07/2009 at 20:36)
andrew1608, livingston (30/07/2009 at 21:30)
Anthony Cutt (30/07/2009 at 22:29)
Horatio Dogsbody, Flixton (30/07/2009 at 23:23)
What relevance is Gordon Brown to a lightning strike in Manchester?
Spectacular video though.
There were several strikes close to where I live but I do not know if any damage was done. The thunder rattled the house and the cat dashed in with all its fur standing on end - it looked twice as fat as normal!
I once slept through a lightning strike at a university hall of residence. The fire alarms went off and there was an evacuation. It was all the talking point over breakfast the next morning and I knew nothing about it!
Rick Jenks, Bury (30/07/2009 at 23:23)
bubbob, manchester (31/07/2009 at 07:23)
Bonners, Stockport (31/07/2009 at 08:47)