So glad people kept their videotapes, here's the live BBC coverage that was taped during the famous Wimbledon storm of '85

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fggSHDe-PiE

Thanks for sharing that Kevin, brought back some memories for me that did.

Although I was only 5 years old in 1985, I remember that week well as I was on holiday in Anstruther, Fife and vividly recall seeing Wimbledon, and that storm that afternoon. Although it was pretty intense while it lasted, I don't think it hang around for too long.

I have also seen some football matches hit by thunder and lightning in the past. The best recent example was the France v Ukraine match at Euro 2012 which was an hour late in starting due to the severity of the storm. However, another that sticks out in my mind was the West Germany v UAE match from Italia 90 in Milan; a cousin of mine was in the San Siro that night.

Yes, I, too, can remember that. That was part of a god-awful Summer, so grotty that the subsequent Autumn months turned out to be more summer-like.

My own location was hit by a not too dissimilar storm about 3 weeks after that one at Wimbledon, at least that's how it came across to me at the time judging by the amount of booming & crashing thunder there was! 1985 was a very poor summer here, in fact I'm given to understand it was Glasgow's wettest summer of the 20th century and I live less than 10 miles from Glasgow.

Below is a clip from the 1990 World Cup match I referred to above which took place during a thunderstorm. If you forward to around 23 minutes into the game, you'll see a flash across the screen followed by what sounds like a huge boom of thunder overhead, just as a UAE player was preparing to take a free kick in his own half of the field.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxN07KfBOak

Speaking of thunderstorms at Wimbledon, I remember an occasion much more recently when a game on centre court was played during a storm, although with the closing roof they now have the game continued unaffected. This was a ladies' singles match in 2011. See below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXd8jUhE5gY

Amazing that is over 30 years ago now. I remember it quite well. That was the summer I left uni - It was a dreadful summer and I kept hoping for some decent settled weather so I could go out - It never materialised. It was an awful year weatherwise really.

Was that the storm of July 25/26th 1985? That one caused much disruption over parts of this country too and is much remembered by those who experienced it.

I reckon it likely was the same storm, or from the same area of storms that affected Ireland, Chunky. I seem to recall it occured on a Thursday night (here it must have started at around 10pm or later as it was already quite dark), and in 1985 the 25th of July fell on a Thursday. That night was my first experience of thunder and lightning, and even now 30 years on, I can still recall it as clearly as I can recall my most recent experience of thunder, at the start of July this year.

Unfortunately, it only served to worsen what was already turning into a rotten summer in my part of the world. July of this year wasn't far away from 1985 in terms of awfulness. Some farmers up here were quoted as saying that this year's harvest in parts of Scotland was the poorest since 1985.

Yep David, I reckon it must have been the same storm alright as N.I was hit particularly hard that night which is only a hop, skip and jump from your own location really.

Thanks for this. I've been looking for decent footage of this for years! I saw it during a lunch break from work at the time. Quite a storm!

It surely has to be one of the most violent storms ever to hit the championships. I know that Wimbledon has been affected by storms at times in the years since, but I can't recall any being anywhere near as violent as that one.