THUNDER and lightning might have been a common appearance last week but on Monday evening something more unusual took to the skies.

People from across the county took to social media to report hearing a "strange explosion" and "bright lights" at around 11pm on Monday.

One man who caught the strange happenings was 25-year-old Michael Thackeray from Mordiford.

He said: "I was watching TV at around 11pm and all of a sudden I heard a very weird, loud explosion – but the sound was almost 'alien'.

"As soon as it happened our TV picture went all distorted and the internet went off although the electricity was fine.

"The first thing I thought to do was look outside and all I caught was a big flash in the sky. I have never seen anything so bright except the sun, although I only caught the last second of it."

He added that others reported that car and fire alarms went off following the bang.

The reason behind the strange happenings could well have something to do with a "circuit breaker" on a county power supply.

Stella Hayward, a spokesman for Western Power Distribution, said: "We are aware of a circuit breaker that operated at around 10.50pm."

She said the power supply would have been off for less than a minute before returning.

"In the dead of night when it’s very quiet it could cause more of a clunk but the equipment hasn’t failed," she added.

"It’s supposed to operate in that way so if something comes into contact with the power line it trips out.

"Following the incident, one of our helicopters is going to patrol the overhead power lines to check for any potential hazards. Using a helicopter to carry out the patrols is the safest, fastest and most effective way to carry out checks on large sections of the network."