mathewjowens

Thanks all. Useful input. I'll let you know if/when the article is published, just in case it's of interest.

Thanks all. Yes, it's been noted that the audibility of thunder depends on atmospheric conditions, so I can well imagine fireworks behaving in a similar way.

Any idea roughly when "loud" fireworks which could (to an untrained ear) be mistaken for thunder became widespread in the UK?

EDIT: I'll also look into the reporting of thunder in Nov 2014 compared with previous years, see if there's any evidence of pulse detention engines affecting the records. Nice idea, thanks.

Sure, if you hear a single shell/rocket and hear it relatively well. But a distant series of explosions, often echoing round buildings or orography, is sometimes mistaken for thunder.