In a case like that nothing but a UPS will work. Surge protectors
are made for higher spikes. A good UPS will switch on during the
overvoltage condition.

N Cook wrote:

Here is witnessed similar surge, urban setting.
Someone , non technical, I know, retuned from abroad about 3 or 4 in the
morning. Sitting down unwinding, with the lights on, he noticed the room
light was getting noticeably brighter and brighter over 10 seconds or so
until it popped , quickly followed by a sidelight. Next day he discovered
VCR blown and a couple of other items blown.
Could he get compensation from the utility - no?
How would you get a slow increase with that transformer fault condition,
intermittant or instantaneous but not gradual increase.