The Canadian town of Lytton has been burned to the ground one day after it set a new national heat record of 49.6°C.

Soaring temperatures and dry air allowed several massive fires to erupt over Canada's British Columbia province on Wednesday.

High resolution satellite images captured an explosion of smoke and cloud as the fires produced towering pyrocumulonimbus clouds on Wednesday. These storms reached more than 16 km into the sky and penetrated the stratosphere.

Images: Visible satellite images captured on Wednesday over Canada's British Columbia province. The images were captured three hours apart, showing the development of large pyrocumulonimbus clouds during the afternoon. Source: RAMMB/CIRA

Pyrocumulonimbus are thunderstorm clouds which are being fuelled by rising hot air from intense bushfires (or volcanoes). Wednesday's fire-fuelled storms even caused dry lightning strikes, which are thought to have ignited further fires in the region.

While there was a large forest fire burning near Lytton on Wednesday, the flames that razed the town are thought to have been part of a separate burn, which may have been ignited by sparks from a train. However, this hasn't yet been confirmed.

Here’s video of people escaping Lytton as fire rips through the village, posted by 2 Rivers Remix Society. The destruction and tragedy are unfathomable. #LyttonBC #Lytton pic.twitter.com/OEPl4jRXsr

— Jess Balzer (@jessicajbalzer) July 1, 2021

After several days of record-breaking heat, which included Lytton setting new Canadian national heat record three days in a row, Wednesday's fires were fast and destructive. Videos and photos from Lytton showed frightening scenes as residents fled the town while it was being engulfed by flames.

According to reports, around 90 percent of Lytton was destroyed by fire on Wednesday. The town's two weather stations were also affected, and both stopped reporting observations.

Not good. This is the last image from the Lytton weather station webcam before it went off line around 540 pm local. Last weather report from Lytton was at 541 pm with a temperature of 37C and winds gusting to 67 kmh #BCFires pic.twitter.com/imM0VH5aeD

— Rob's Obs (@robsobs) July 1, 2021

If the instruments in these weather stations were destroyed, it will be impossible to carry out any validation tests on the thermometer that logged this week's new Canadian heat record of 49.6ºC on Tuesday.

While temperatures have now moderated across British Columbia, fire authorities were still battling a number of fires across western Canada on Thursday.