Incredible picture shows moment lightning strikes in Dorset

A photographer captured the incredible moment lightning struck the Dorset coast and lit up the sky.

It took Daniel Sands five attempts before he got the 'money shot' at Portland Bill.

He said: "On the day I was out for about 45 minutes, but this was my fifth attempt at trying, all previous attempts ending with soaked clothes and nothing to show for it.

"It's a shot I've wanted to capture for some time now, so I generally keep a close eye on the weather.

"I'd missed a storm that morning by about 10 minutes so was determined not to miss it again.

"I watched the storm clouds get closer and closer, with a multitude of strikes out to sea and out of frame, but continued in my determination to get a shot with the lighthouse in frame."

A yellow weather warning was in place for thunder in Dorset at the time.

Thunderstorms and heavy rain hit the county throughout the weekend before another lightning storm moved across Dorset after 3pm on Sunday afternoon (23 October).

Daniel had his phone set up to take a photo every five seconds in the hopes of getting a shot of the lightning behind the lighthouse.

"This resulted in about 1000 photos being taken which I went through with my fingers firmly crossed hoping I managed to capture something.

"My approach to photographs of this nature is pretty much "shoot and hope" - I took as many photos as I possibly could in the hope that a single frame would contain something exciting.

"Once back in the safety of my home it was just a process of going through the frames."