Home / Editor's Pick /

Curious Lightning Facts: It Can Hit the Same Place Twice

10:00
19 June 2022

Curious Lightning Facts
It Can Hit the Same Place Twice

Types of LightningHave you witnessed both types of lightning? Share your images!

Lightning is a spectacular phenomenon, and while it can be dangerous, it lights up the night sky magnificently.

Here are some curious facts about lightning:

  • There are over 100 lightning strikes every second around the world, leading to over 8.6 million lightning strikes every day. That’s a lot of electricity.
  • In the UK and Ireland, lightning is most common from May to August.
  • The south, and east of both the UK and Ireland are more prone to lightning than other areas.
  • Potentially dangerous cloud-to-ground strikes make up only one-quarter of all lightning generated by thunderstorms.
  • Most other incidences of lightning are within the cloud, and this is known as sheet lightning.
  • Lightning is unsurprisingly hotter than the sun. On average, lightning can be as hot as 30,000 degrees. That’s five times hotter than the sun!
  • The phrase “Lightning never strikes the same place twice” is actually not correct. Lightning will strike the same places multiple times. The Empire State Building in New York gets struck about 23 times every year.
  • Lastly, while 85% of lightning strike victims are men, women's fatality rate is greater.
Weather & Radar editorial team
More on the topic
Tuesday, 17 June 2025

Through Tuesday

Split in conditions with Sun and rain
Thursday, 19 June 2025

31.3°C at Heathrow

Hottest day of the year so far
Wednesday, 18 June 2025

Grab the sunscreen

High UV levels to end the week
All weather news
This might also interest you
Monday, 16 June 2025

Breakfast brief

Cloudy though heat remains
Thursday, 12 June 2025

Breakfast brief

Storm risk as heat continues to rise
Tuesday, 17 June 2025

Breakfast brief

Some rain as heat stays steady
All articles
Weather & Radar

www.weatherandradar.co.uk

facebooktwittertikTokContact uslinkList
Privacy Policy | Legal info