Lightning Strike - Your Stories

Lightning can appear like a bolt from the blue. It is able to strike up to ten miles from the storm that created it, and when the skies are still clear and sunny. Many people who've been struck quite literally don't know what has hit them.

Fortunately in society today those who survive a lightning strike don't also have to contend with alienation from their society as would have been the case at the time of the Inca civilisation, who believed that it was punishment for not being a good cooperative citizen.

We asked you to send in your stories of lightning strikes and we were inundated! We have included a selection within this article.

Lightning facts

• There are, on average, about 1800 thunderstorms in progress at any one time around the world with one hundred lightning strikes every second.
• Lightning bolts can travel 60 miles and the longest are found at the squall line of a storm.
• A lightning bolt travels at about 14,000mph bringing 300,000 volts of electricity to the ground in just a few milliseconds, and heating up the air around it to 30,000°C - five times hotter than the surface of the sun.

Keith Lomax told us that he was caught in a storm in southern France while driving. "The rain was so heavy that it was about 5cm deep across the whole road because the flood drains were overloaded, bringing traffic to a near standstill. The lightning was striking the road around us making the water boil."

According to the Met Office, Tororo in Uganda has the most thunderstorms worldwide, seeing them on an average of 251 days per year. In mid-summer, the UK, the Southeast of England, the Midlands and East Anglia see the most lightning from storms brought in by warm air from the continent. In mid-winter, the warm water around the Southwest peninsula seems to give them most lightning.

The effects
If hit, part of the lightning charge flows over the body - often known as an 'external flashover' - and part through the body. The more that flows through, the more internal damage it causes. If your skin is moist from either rain or sweat, the moisture can rapidly turn to steam and it's this that's responsible for reports of clothes and shoes being blown off.

Lightning often causes its victims to jump, which could be caused by the charge contracting the muscles in the body. Other effects range from amnesia, seizures, motor control damage, hearing loss, tinnitus, blindness, sleep disorders, headaches, confusion, tingling and numbness. Burns are often reported, which can be caused by objects in contact with the skin being heated up by the electrical charge.

According to the Guiness Book of World Records, the record for being struck by lightning is held by park ranger Roy Sullivan (aka the 'human lightning conductor') who survived seven strikes between 1942 and 1977. In his various encounters he had his hair set alight, lost his big toe nail and eyebrows and suffered injuries to his arms, legs, chest and stomach.

Risks
The most dangerous hobbies with regards to being struck by lightning are golfing and angling - anything that increases your height, particularly if it's made of metal, increases your risk of being struck.

You're not safe in water either, as the lightning energy can still be transferred to you, so you should get out of a pool or the sea if a storm is brewing. If you are sailing, you should ensure that your boat has adequate protection systems.

If you seek shelter in a wooded area, don't stand close to tall trees as they're more likely to be hit and the charge can side flash to you. Standing reasonably close to smaller trees offers better protection.

Tony Grimstone told us that during the summer of 1976 he worked as a lifeguard at a swimming pool in Croydon, Surrey. One afternoon a thunderstorm started to develop. "We were trying to get the final few swimmers out of the water and the storm was getting closer. Another lifeguard and I were standing alongside the ten metre diving boards. There was a blinding flash of lightning and an almighty crash and the diving boards were struck by lightning. I was hurled backwards by approximately 15 feet into a wire fence. The lifeguard I was with similarly was thrown backwards. Although we were shocked (and deaf for the next three days) we were unharmed."

Colin Uttridge told us that he was climbing in Langdale, Cumbria one Summer, when a thunderstorm started. "Within seconds the crag was streaming with water. I decided to climb down via a narrow groove in the rockface, which was also acting as a drainpipe. Suddenly flash / bang as lightning struck the hillside, and I felt a shock zip all over me. Surprisingly, I stayed on the rock."

Narrow escapes
Even if lightning misses you, people report a number of after-effects, most regularly that their hair stood on end.

Paul Weaver was caught in a storm on Bow Fell Lakes in June 1974. The rock he was sheltering under was stuck by lightning, "we felt a 'shock wave' our hair stood on end and we felt nauseous."

Carol Ersepke has had several narrow escapes in the USA and has avoided being struck four times. The third time, while working in a metal building in Wisconsin "a bolt of lightning came down between two buildings and the current travelled through the metal reinforcement rods in the cement floor, causing my hair to stand on end for what seemed like an eternity but was probably for only a minute or so."

Matthew Hutton's narrow escape while storm chasing was captured on film. "One evening, we had chased a rotating tornadic super cell. The main updraft was very clearly visible with clear blue sky behind. We all remarked how electrified the air felt. Suddenly, a huge lightning strike shot out of the back of the updraft into the clear air and hit around a mile away. It was spectacular. I caught this on my DV camera and when I played it back later you can see a 'streamer' [a current travelling up from people, objects or the ground that connects with the lightning bolt] a few yards from my location. If this had connected with the charge from the cloud I do not think I would be here now."