Lightning and heavy rain hit south Essex last night with trains left unable to run during an unexpected thunderstorm.

Residents were surprised to see torrential rain and lightning in the skies yesterday evening after 7pm, with no weather warning issued for Essex. 

Surprise - Lightning seen from Carla Doodes' gardenSurprise - Lightning seen from Carla Doodes' garden (Image: Carla Doodes)Carla Doodes also got this brilliant shotCarla Doodes also got this brilliant shot (Image: Carla Doodes) Photos from Echo camera club members show lightning in the skies as the quick thunderstorm brought heavy rain across the south of the county including in Basildon and Southend.Wayne Alderton captured this image on the seafrontWayne Alderton captured this image on the seafront (Image: Wayne Alderton)

A lightning strike also caused disruption in Southend as trains were unable to run between Southend Central and Shoebury stations after the electricity supply was left damaged. 

This has caused widespread disruption on the c2c line this morning while engineers continue their repairs.A glimpse of lightning from Aaron CheshamA glimpse of lightning from Aaron Chesham (Image: Aaron Chesham)A c2c spokesman said: "Following a lightning strike near to Shoebury depot on Wednesday evening we were unable to run services between Southend Central and Shoebury. 

"We are anticipating some disruption to early services on Thursday morning while engineers continue to repair faulty equipment."