Like something out of War of the Worlds is how Marc Burton describes the moment he caught lightning striking the Tyne Bridge on camera.

Burton, 20, was round at his friend's flat on Thursday afternoon when the weather closed in and they found themselves at the epicentre of the devestating weather which hit the North East from 3pm to 7pm.

"The sound was like a car engine revving but right in the flat", said Marc, "we saw this enormous cloud coming over the city and the rain was absolutely hammering down.

"We thought 'we need to get a picture of this' and we saw ligtning forking down on Byker and all over. We thought it might hit the Bridge."

The 20-second clip taken at 4.50pm on Thursday has now been viewed around the world and Marc admits they were worried when the weather turned.

He said: "We were scared. It was terrifying, the video doesn't do the noise justice when the thunder and lightning was going off.

"I had to back away from the window, the flash and the brightness when the lightning hit was just insane."

Paul Somerville, 25, owns the Penthouse flat at 55 Degrees North said their phones had been ringing of the hook with media attention since they took the video.

"It's just insane. We put it on YouTube and it had thousands of views and loads of comments within an hour.

"I put it on my Facebook and then people just kept sharing it. We've had it on BBC and ITV news bulletins. It's not something you ever think you'll see."

Marc, who works for Paul's events company, said it just showed how quickly a video can spread around the internet.

"Looking at the comments on YouTube," he says, "you can see everyone was looking out the window and seeing the same thing. I guess it's just lucky I was at the window at that moment waiting to see if it did strike."

Paul says the pair have regularly seen dramatic weather moments from the top-floor flat.

"We get amazing views up here, on a good day you can see as far as Consett," he said.

"On days which aren't like this the sunrise and sunsets are just spectacular. But I think today has definitely been the most dramatic since I moved here a year ago."

View the video on YouTube and read the comments from other people who saw the lightning strike.

» Click here to follow our live weather and traffic blog

:: Have you been affected? Leave your comment below or email your weather photos to pics@ncjmedia.co.uk