Worst thunderstorms in Yorkshire history: The most severe 1968 dust fall thunderstorms in the British Isles that led to two deaths in Northallerton and Oldham
The July 1968 UK dust fall thunderstorms were considered the most severe in the British Isles for more than 200 years and the impact in Yorkshire was significant resulting in two deaths.
The UK dust fall thunderstorms were caused by a combination of a layer of mineral dust blowing north from the Sahara and cold, wet air over the British Isles.
They resulted in thick clouds and severe thunderstorms across most of England and Wales and the clouds fully blocked out the light in some areas.
The rain and hail led to property damage and flooding and at least four people were killed - half of them being in Yorkshire.
During the storm, Leeming Bar saw 35.7mm (1.41in) of rain in under 10 minutes which was a UK record until 2003.
The thunderstorms were initially formed in Algeria between June 26 to 27, 1968, which appeared to have blown a large quantity of Sahara dust into the atmosphere. The dust then blew across continental Europe and the layer reached England on June 30 that year.
The dust particles acted as seeds for nucleation, which caused water to rapidly precipitate and form significantly large raindrops and hailstones and resulted in one of the most widespread intense hail falls ever recorded in the UK.
The storms resulted in at least four fatalities; three people were struck by lightning including a 72-year-old woman in Northallerton and a 14-year-old girl in Oldham.
There were broken windows and dented cars across a wide portion of the country due to the hail, and damage was reported at both Cardiff Airport and RAF Chivenor.
In Yeadon, the hail reached 18in deep, and in parts of Yorkshire the ice was so extreme that they had to use bulldozers to clear the roads.
There was severe flooding on July 2 in Bradford with many streets deep underwater.
The Great Flood of 1968 in September would be considered the worst until the 2007 floods.