With global warming, this kind of event is probably going to be more common.
In the space of 10 months, from two lightning strikes near to the house, I've lost:
A nearly- new Pace
Sky+ Digibox
An ADSL wireless router
A quad Invacom LNB
Two power supplies
We are 3000 feet up in the mountains just outside Madrid, near the top of a hill. I am now taking this problem very seriously. I did the installation myself, and had not even thought about lightning before.
My power supply to the digiboxes is now a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). These come with surge protection for both telephone and power lines. I would recommend one of these to anyone in parts of Europe with unreliable electricity networks, or a weak Astra 2 north beam signal.
When I came to replace the LNB, one of the cables was blackened near the F connector. I am still trying to work out where the main surge came from, either the ground or through the mains. the first strike was probably passed by the phone line, as it blew the router and the
Sky+, which was connected to it. (I use VOIP for
Sky box office)
If the best opinion is to earth the cables and LNB, then I'll do it straight away, there are still storms about.