Bangor snow storm lightning in video

James Angus was in his home in the Lisnabreen area of the town when he was startled by the bright flashes and loud thunder outside.

"I was up in my room and there was a burst of white light on my window and a massive rumbling sound," he told UTV.

"I ran downstairs and my parents were already at the kitchen window watching it. I've never really seen such clear forks of lightning like that in real life before, and certainly not during snow. I decided to go get my camera since it was so bright, loud and just strange."

The 19-year-old said the lightning started at around 7.30pm on Saturday, and lasted almost an hour.

After posting his video footage online, James said he was amazed to find it had "gone locally viral".

"When I woke up this morning it had gone to over 4000 views, and now over 5000," he added. "It's pretty amazing!"

John Wylie from the Northern Ireland Met Office explained how this weather phenomenon came about.

"Lightning like this was reported across the east coast on Saturday night during the storms," he told UTV.

"They're caused by low pressure moving in from the Irish Sea. You get intensely cold air moving over warmer water, and this helped to set the storms off."

However, while the sight of lightning during a snow shower may sound unusual, Mr Wylie added that it is not an uncommon meteorological event.

"People normally associate them with rainy weather," he went on, "but the kind we saw on Saturday are actually not all that uncommon. Thunderstorms are thunderstorms!"