It's in the forecast: Eight facts about lightning

It's in the forecast
Eight facts about lightning

With thunder and lightning returning to the forecast today, did you know these fascinating facts?

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.

Have you witnessed both types of lightning? Share your shots here!

How do thunderstorms develop?read more

Weather & Radar editorial team

More on the topic