Lightning without thunder?

Question

Last night flashes of light from outside were lighting up the walls.

It was like lightning, but there was no thunder?

It must've been near (if it Was a storm) because I saw it reflected on the walls at first.

It was around midnight or 1am

(East England)

Answer 1

it's called an electrical storm i think

we had one here last night too, we in Berkshire

Answer 2

There is no such thing as "Heat Lightning."  It's either lightning or not.  The storm was far enough away that you could see the lightning but not hear the thunder.  Lightning can be seen from a very great distance, but thunder fades away quickly and can't generally be heard if the lightning strike is more than 3 miles away or so.

Answer 3

it could have been "heat" lightning....lightning actually is visible over greater distances than thunder is audible...it could have been from a distant storm that you could see but not hear. also, the sound of thunder sometimes gets "blocked" by different atmospheric conditions/phenoma like temperature changes or cloud density.

Answer 4

Police Helicopter ?

Space Aliens ?

Answer 5

Happened in the Midlands too.

Answer 6

cloud to cloud lightning can be very very bright but the sound is too far away to hear