A FREAK lightning strike that hit telephone cables and blew electrics in several north Hampshire homes was part of the weekend's bizarre weather.

Lightning, followed by a thunderclap - heard by Gazette readers for miles around - hit a telegraph pole in Highland Drive, Oakley, blowing fuses and affecting electrical equipment in about 40 nearby houses.

Sarah and Sebastian Lawson, of Highland Drive, were startled out of their sleep by the crash of their loft door blasting open and telephone cables and sockets blowing up, at around 7am on Sunday.

Mrs Lawson, 27, said: "There was a flash and a bang at the same time and, before we knew it, upstairs was filled with smoke.

"The natural thing to do was just grab something to put on and get out, because we thought there was a fire."

Their telephones melted and sockets and fuses throughout the house were blown, scattering scorched debris across the singed carpets.

When outdoors, the couple, who have only lived in the house for a month, called the fire brigade on a mobile phone.

Mrs Lawson said: "It was really scary, I don't like thunder anyway. I'm just glad our curtains didn't catch fire."

Her 32-year-old husband added that their television and computer were beyond repair, and that they would have to buy replacements.

Bryan Holden, area supervisor for Open Reach - which fixes phonelines to the sockets for BT - said: "The lightning hit the pole direct and, in doing that, it's damaged the pole, the box and melted the cable a couple of hundred yards down the road."

Engineers are due to replace the underground cable that was damaged by the lightning strike tomorrow and reconnect affected houses later in the day.

The incident was part of an odd weather weekend, where Basingstoke residents woke up to an eight-centimetre covering of snow on Sunday morning.

Among those making the most of the weather were youngsters who went sledging in the Crabtree Plantation and built snowmen, before a glorious sunny afternoon melted the snow.