Lightning strikes illuminate New York City skyline

The heat and humidity plaguing the Northeast this week conjured up thunderstorms and lightning strikes that illuminated the New York City skyline.

Photos posted to social media show landmarks in the Big Apple lit up by the bright streaks of electricity.

Images taken by a New York-based photographer on Tuesday night show the Statue of Liberty and Verrazano Bridge as they are lit up by bolts of lightning.

Photos taken by Brooklyn-based blogger Cory Seamer show the Brooklyn Bridge as several bolts of lightning touch down near the East River.

In other images taken across the Hudson River in New Jersey, flashes of light can be seen descending from thick storm clouds onto lower Manhattan.

While the flashes of lightning made for some breathtaking images, they also proved dangerous as well.

Three people were struck by lightning in the New York City borough of Queens, according to the NYPD. Two of the men, who were struck at a soccer field in Flushing Meadows Park, went to the hospital in critical and serious condition, police said.

Another person was struck near the Jamaica and St. Albans neighborhoods, but his or her condition was unknown, police said.