A lightning strike caused a huge gas explosion at a power station with fire crews tackling the blaze throughout the night.

Reports of the explosion first came in at around 7.20pm on Monday night (October 2) after lightning struck a digester tank at a Severn Trent Green Power waste plant in Cassington, igniting the biogas inside.

Emergency services rushed to the scene with 40 fire and rescue personnel tackling the blaze at the height of the fire, which could be seen from surrounding villages.

The explosion could be seen by a number of householders across Oxford and surrounding locations who took to social media to express their astonishment at the sky being lit up.

READ MORE: The most striking photos from power plant explosion

Aerial footage from a drone showed the full extent of the damage caused to three of the five tanks used to process food waste at the plant.

The fire service continued to monitor the power plant with a hydraulic platform and one fire engine remaining at the scene throughout yesterday (October 3).

Oxford Mail: The view from Cassington.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue said it will conduct a fire investigation despite its officers saying it was  "clear this was a lightning strike".

A fire and rescue spokesman said: "Even though it is clear this was a lightning strike we will conduct a fire investigation.

"As this is a workplace the Health and Safety Executive will be informed and we would work alongside them should they choose to do an investigation of their own."

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The site of the gas explosion is now fully safe, according to the operators.

The Chipping Norton-based company confirmed that no one was injured in the blast but told users to stay away from the site on Tuesday.

Thames Valley Police was also called to the scene with officers leaving the site at 4am.

The A40 was closed between Wolvercote and Eynsham for a period, and police urged residents to stay home and shut windows and doors.

Oxford Mail: Sign leading to plant where explosion occurred.

Local policing area commander for Cherwell and West Oxfordshire, Superintendent Jen Hogben said: “This incident was dealt with swiftly by Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service.

“Although we briefly had to put road closures in place on the A40, there was no requirement for any evacuation and there were no injuries.

“Our officers left the scene at approximately 4am and the road closure on the A40 was lifted.

“I would like to thank the local community for their understanding while this incident was dealt with.”

Severn Trent Green Power thanked the emergency services for their response after confirming the site had been contained.

A spokesman said on Tuesday afternoon: "Following the lightning strike at our plant in Cassington last night, the site has been fully contained and made safe. 

"We'd like to thank the emergency services for their support and will continue to work with them throughout the day."

Oxford Mail: Drone images show scale of damage to the Servern Trent Green power plant near Cassington.

The Met Office had issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms in Oxfordshire adding it wasn’t a rare occurrence to make these cautions in October in the UK.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) confirmed there was no power outage due to the explosion but there was disruption to the wider area from the weather conditions.

A spokesman from SSEN Distribution said: “We have no evidence last night’s incident at Severn Trent’s site in Cassington had any direct impact on our network.  

“The severe weather conditions yesterday evening in the wider area did result in some brief disruption to our customers’ supplies, which were reinstated quickly."