paul wrote:
An aquaintances house was struck in the early hours of mon morning,
fortunately while he was on holiday,it blew a 5 foot hole in the roof and
destroyed all the wiring ,all the sockets were blown out of the wall ,and
this is the most curious thing ,even some sockets not connected to the mains
were blown out.

If they have wires connected to them sufficient current could have been
induced in them due to the intense and changing electrical and magnetic
fields surrounding a lightning discharge - they don't need a direct
strike.

Martin