Oxfordshire 'explosion': a huge fireball left the sky glowing for two minutes after loud bang

The sky turned red as a huge fireball was spotted in Oxfordshire after reports of an explosion in the area.

People took to social media to share their footage of the fire which happened at around 7.45pm.

One witness told the Oxford Mail they saw a "strange pulsing sky out of our windows looking northwest of Oxford".

"I'm guessing it's a fire caused by the lightning storm that passed over," the witness added.

One person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: "Anybody else in Oxford just see that fireball

?? Loud explosion and then the sky just did this ?? (keep in mind it’s supposed to be dark)".

Another wrote: "What the hells happened in Oxford? How can no one know what it is?"

Users have claimed that the sky was pulsating, and the sky over Oxford was left glowing for just two minutes.

Some members of the public reportedly lost power shortly after the blast.

The incident was said to have taken place northwest of Oxford, and emergency services reportedly rushed along the A40 minutes later.

It is currently unknown what caused the explosion, although some people reported the explosion was caused by a lightning strike hitting the area after storms passed overhead. One person said: "There was a huge explosion sound in the midst of a thunderstorm then the sky to the east started glowing bright orange. Two fire engines went through our village 15 mins later. There is a facility producing green gas between Cassington and Yarnton."

Oxfordshire is among the dozens of locations in the UK under a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms, as put out earlier tonight by the Met Office. "Thunderstorms with frequent lightning have already affected parts of the warning area, these continuing into the evening in places. An increasing risk of longer-lasting intense downpours too, especially later this evening and further east across the warning area, for example towards south Lincolnshire and East Anglia.