Shocking photos have captured the moment a huge plane was struck by lightning while travelling over Wales. The Airbus Beluga was struck as it flew over North Wales soon after departing Hawarden Airport in Flintshire on Tuesday, November 1.
The Beluga XL5 was on route to Hamburg at just after 1pm and had only been in the air for a short amount of time after take off when the strike happened. The flight continued as normal, and landed safely in the German city shortly after 2.30pm. People in the area reported hearing a huge "explosion" sound and a bright white flash following the incident.
Incredibly, the freak moment was captured on dash cam and Airbus later confirmed the strike and said the aircraft will be thoroughly checked ahead of its next take off, reports North Wales Live. A spokesperson for Airbus UK said: "At 1pm today, Beluga XL5 departing Hawarden Airport was struck by lightning.
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"This is a routine event in aviation and the aircraft continued with its journey to Hamburg as planned. In accordance with standard operating procedure, the aircraft will be inspected before its next flight."
The incident comes after adverse weather - including heavy rain and strong winds - batters Wales. There is a yellow weather warning for wind in place across the entire west coast of the country, with wind speeds expected to reach 65mph in parts.
The warning is in place until 8pm on Wednesday November 2. The warning is in place from 7am until 8pm on Wednesday. It is likely there will be some delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport. Some bus and train services will be affected, with some journeys taking longer, and likely delays for high-sided vehicles on exposed routes and bridges.
Some short term loss of power and other services is possible, according to the Met Office. And it’s likely that some coastal routes, sea fronts and coastal communities will be affected by spray and /or large waves
The areas in Wales covered by the warning are:
- Anglesey
- Gwynedd
- Conwy
- Ceredigion
- Pembrokeshire
- Carmarthenshire
- Swansea
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