Men nearly get struck by lightning in Sydney

Two young men got the fright of their lives when a terrifying lightning strike in Sydney narrowly missed them.

Nick Panayiotou, 17, and his friend Daniel Dudman, 18, were filming a thunderstorm brewing at Sydney's Oyster Bay on Saturday.

The two young men were sheltering in a boat shed while Daniel was filming.

On the video, which has garnered over 37,000 views on Facebook, Daniel is heard telling Nick "don't go outside".

However, Nick walked closer to the boat shed entrance to take a peek at the thunderstorm brewing in the distance.

Nick Panayiotou (left) 17, and his friend Daniel Dudman, 18, were filming a thunderstorm brewing at Sydney's Oyster Bay on Saturday. Photo / Supplied

As soon the terrifying bang of thunder hit, the two young men were heard yelling and running back inside.

The lightning narrowly missed the two men, hitting the water, metres away from them.

Nick described the incident as "insane".

"The whole ground shook.

"We felt the shockwave and static, it was quite amazing."

Nick said it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience but his mum had quite naturally, "freaked out" when she found out.

"It was quite dangerous. I'm glad I didn't get hit as I was outside," he said.

However, his dad had "found it quite funny".

The video had since attracted national and international media attraction with the young men appearing on Australia's Sunrise programme this morning and the video shown on American site Break TV.

Last week a 17-year-old woman received a shock from a lightning strike while sitting on a metal toilet seat in a public toilet block at Queensland's Hervey Bay.

Paramedics said the teenager suffered isolated injuries but was in a stable condition at Hervey Bay Hospital, ABC Australia reported.