A woman was left shocked when her car window shattered after a thunder and hail storm.

Michelle James, 45, of Oaklands Road, Dartford, discovered the gaping hole in the rear window of her BMW 3 Series when she got into her car on Friday morning, July 26, as she prepared to drive to work.

She believes a combination of extreme heat the previous day - when temperatures pushed past 35C - and a storm in the early hours of the following morning, were to blame, but was mystified that no other cars in the road were damaged.

"When I left home for work my car looked okay but when I started the engine I heard something fall behind me," she said. "When I looked behind me I saw gaping hole in my rear windscreen. It really shook me up."

Michelle, a senior biomedical scientist in histology at Princess Royal University Hospital in Orpington, said the storm earlier that morning had been one of the most intense she'd witnessed.

"I was woken up by really loud thunder and hail was beating down on the house and car," she added. "It was like we were under attack.

"We had the heat followed by the hail stones and thunder. If something's really loud it can break glass - maybe it's a combination of everything.

"What was embarrassing was my car the only one damaged in the road. I don't know if anyone else in Dartford has had a problem."

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If you know of similar damage caused to cars in last week's weather contact the newsroom at dartford@thekmgroup.co.uk

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