The thunder-storm which visited the Metropolis on Thursday even- ing
extended over a large space in the surrounding country, and was even more violent at a distance. In the Forest of Berkshire, huge hailstones fell amidst terrific thunder and lightning, and injured se- veral mansions. Accounts of the storm have been received also from Plymouth and Brighton. In the Metropolis, William Taylor, a hair- dresser, was struck speechless by a flash of lightning, while sitting at his shop. door.
Birmingham has been alarmed by a disastrous fire. It broke out on Thursday night, at a coachbuilder's, where some men were "ringing" a carriage-wheel with a red-hot iron tire. The stock of timber and the premises were destroyed ; and several of the adjacent buildings were injured. So alarming a fire, it is said, has never occurred in Birmingham except at the riots in 1791 and 1839.
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