UK power cuts LIVE: Heatwave lightning storm leaves 15,000 homes in the dark

As the UK begins to swelter in its fourth heatwave of the summer, thousands of people have found themselves without power overnight amid reports of intense summer storms.

More than 15,000 homes were left in the dark in the early hours of Tuesday morning, with power cuts sweeping across the Scottish and Southern Electricity network.

Outages are mainly affecting SSE customers in Dorset and Wiltshire, but thousands across the wider south of England were also left without power.

Reports of power cuts came in around 1am, with one Dorset resident reports hearing an intense thunderclap as the electricity went out. They said on X: "Bloody hell, woke up to the power being cut out and a massive clap of thunder going off. Was a jumpscare."