Thousands of homes were left without power this morning as thunderstorms and flash floods raked the west of the county.

Isolated downpours and localised storms had been forecast by the Met Office yesterday afternoon, but the thunder and lightning didn't hit the south coast until the early hours of this morning.

Falmouth Packet: Dracaena Avenue Falmouth flood

(ABOVE) Dracaena Avenue in Falmouth at 9am

An estimated 4,900 homes were left without power in Falmouth and Penryn as the storms disrupted supplies with lightning strikes.

Power outages were also reported in St Keverne on The Lizard and around Redruth.

Trains were suspended on the Maritime Line between Truro and Falmouth Docks due to the "adverse weather conditions" and Commercial Road in Penryn was only just passable, because of the standing water as storm drains were overwhelmed.

The A394 in Helston was also blocked in both directions between the Meneage Street junction and the Torleven Road junction because of a fallen tree.

Falmouth Packet: Commercial Road Penryn Flood

(ABOVE) Commercial Road in Penryn was particularly badly hit

Firefighters were mobilised to help clear the flooding in St Just in Roseland, Truro, Falmouth and Penryn.

By 9.30am the rains had eased, and are forecast to spread westwards out over the Atlantic later today.

Most areas should be enjoying the sunshine by this afternoon.

The Maritime Line, between Truro and Falmouth, was running an amended hourly service throughout the morning and a spokesperson for First Great Western said "there is no estimate for when a normal service will resume."

(BELOW) A video showing some of the worst hit areas in Falmouth and Penryn

Reaction to the freak weather was one of surprise and astonishment. One Twitter user called "Foxie" described it as "by far the most impressive storm I've witnessed with exception of Florida."

Lisa Moore said: "One heck of a storm in Penryn this morning. Haven't seen one like this in years. Stay safe everyone."

Melissa Shergold asked no on in particular: "Erm, thunderstorm? Really?!? Falmouth, what you doing?"

Tina Haland said it "sounded like World War 3 was coming" while Millie Campbell described a roll of thunder at 7am "which literally shook the ground."

But Jaye Louis Douce was excited. "Love this massive storm," he said, "I want more!"