[bbfan1991]

Emmerdale stars Suzanne Shaw and James Thornton have spoken of how they were almost struck by lightning this week as they filmed a scene for the soap.

The pair, who play Eve Jenson and John Barton respectively, were forced to run for cover after a bolt blew out all the lights and destroyed a tree just a few feet away from where they were shooting.

James Sutton (Ryan Lamb) and Jeff Hordley (Cain Dingle) were also present for the scary moment, which occurred on Tuesday evening during a freak storm which hit Yorkshire.

Writing on Twitter shortly afterwards, Shaw told fans: "Emmerdale has just been struck by lightning! Seriously - Cain, Ryan, Eve and John nearly killed off!"

Meanwhile, Thornton - who is still recovering after being hit by a car in February - told his own Twitter followers: "Just almost got hit by lightning! All the lights exploded! We all screamed! I threw my crutches on the floor! The whole crew took cover."

An Emmerdale source told the Daily Star: "They can see the funny side now but they were in a blind panic when the lightning struck. They were in fear of their lives."