Thunderbolt causes Kercem fire - Plane diverts because of storm

A thunderbolt struck a farm in Kercem, Gozo, this evening, sparking a fire in a hay barn. Three fire engines were deployed to fight the blaze. Some 2000 bales of straw were destroyed. Earlier, a Ryanair flight bound for Malta from Bologna diverted to Trapani because of the severe thunderstorm in the Sicily-Malta Channel. Readers reported the thunderstorm over Gozo and the Northern part of Malta.