Chaos as several areas of Sheffield hit by flash flooding during 'spectacular' storm

Sheffield had braced itself for thunderstorms yesterday (Saturday, July 8, 2023) after the Met Office issued a day-long yellow warning for heavy rain and thunderstorms, affecting most of Britain.

Nevertheless, the extent of the heavy rain still took Sheffielders by surprise, and resulted in flash-flooding in a number of areas of the city, including Abbeydale Road in Nether Edge.

A video taken by @bamb_uk shows the road under several inches of water, with cars driving through, as waves of surface water flow past businesses located on the road including Abbeydale DIY and Door Centre at 609 Abbeydale Road.

Middlewood Road, one of the main roads running through Hillsborough, was also hit by flash-flooding last night, with videos taken by residents showing a deluge of water running down the road, near to Costa.

The volume of surface water in Hillsborough, and across the city, also brought Sheffield's tram network to a standstill.

Stagecoach Supertram Tweeted at 9.38pm last night: "We've got trams across the network stuck in large amounts of standing water. We're hoping levels start to subside shortly."

The disruption was in place for around an hour, with normal service resuming across the tram network just before 10.40pm.

East Bank Road in Heeley was also hit by a torrent of surface water.

Two properties on the same road caught fire as a result of the thunderstorm that followed the heavy rain, after lightning reportedly struck a nearby telegraph pole on the road.

A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue confirmed firefighters worked for more than two hours to extinguish blazes that broke out at two premises on East Bank Road in the Heeley area of Sheffield as a result of the storm; with the service arriving on the scene at around 9.30pm and leaving just after midnight.

The storm kept people across Sheffield up last night, with many taking to social media to discuss the 'spectacular' natural light show.

Emma B said: "That storm over Sheffield just then was a little scary."

michael selwood said: "Spectacular storm over Sheffield right now

Lalwendeboggart·added: "The rain in the current storm in Sheffield was more intense for a few minutes than anything I've seen, it was rebounding and swirling upwards into the air on the path.

Jude Elli said: "Well this is a cracker of a #storm isn't it."

@Viking__Harry·continued: "Massive thunder and lightning storm in Sheffield right now."

@VincentKnotley·10h said: "Okay I have never seen a storm like this in Sheffield before! Literal walls of water."