'Off to buy a lotto ticket': Mudgee man has 'very close call' with lightning strike

Filmed from the dashcam of a nearby parked car, incredible footage shows the moment a NSW man had a very near brush with disaster.

While many may say having your car crushed by a tree after a lightning strike is the height bad luck, Simon Somervail from Mudgee disagrees.

Somervail said he had forgotten his wallet while loading up his car and it might just have saved his life.

READ MORE: Power outages detected as Sydney tops 40 degrees

"I heard this crack, like an explosion, like nothing I've heard or felt before," he told 9News.

"I don't know if I would have been more injured being in the car or next to it - either way it wouldn't have been pretty," he said.

In the unbelievable footage, shared on Instagram, Somervail can be seen running to the side door of the Hyundai Getz, placing some items in the rear seat.

He then turns and walks out of frame, leaving the car door open, before chaos erupts.

The next frame of the video shows a lightning bolt hitting the tree nearby, obliterating it instantly.

Hefty branches of the shattered tree rain down on the car where he stood moments before.

"I'm off to buy a lotto ticket," he captioned his video post.

Somervail's car was written off by insurers after the mishap, with pictures later highlighting how close he came to danger.