I love a good storm, but I know many people are terrified, there are so many folk beliefs about them. The ones I've heard are:, turning mirrors to face the wall, (why I dont' know)? Opening the front and back doors so as any energy balls can exit, turning off and unplugging anything electric, especially the tv, this I can understand as surge protectors wern't as good or as common as now and TV arials were often the highest point in a house. My friends Gran used to hide in the cupboard under the stairs until it was allover as she was so scared.
My Gran told my Dad it was just God moving his furniture about, I guess that was to stop him being scared.
Has anyone else ever seen ball lightening? It's a weird thing to see, a bright ball flying across the sky from one cloud to another, quite distinct from normal sheet lightening and it explodes with a hell of a bang like an explosion. It was only scientifucally confirmed as being real in the late !980's, so I guess some scientist actually saw it and couldn't say ever body who had seen it was a superstitious liar. It's thought that it accounts for many dragon stories, as it's often firey in colour rather than blue/white, it was also thought to be an omen of change for centuries.
I've seen forked lightening coming in across the sea, the storm looked like it was walking. No wonder there are so many legends, stories and superstitions about storms.
Any one got any more folk beliefs to add?