Gallery

Storms caught
on camera.

Our favourite flashes, from a bolt over London's Docklands to a jet of lightning shooting up into space. Tap any photo to see it big!

Photo credits

Thank you to the photographers

Every photo here comes from Wikimedia Commons and is used under the licence shown. Photos marked CC BY-SA can be reused under the same licence. Have a storm photo of your own? We'd love to feature British storms here.

  1. Lightning over the Isle of Dogs London, England. Photo by mattbuck, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  2. Cloud-to-cloud lightning on a stormy night Zwickau, Germany. Photo by André Karwath aka Aka, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
  3. A rare gigantic jet leaping 50 to 90 km up from a storm towards space Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Photo by International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/A. Smith, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  4. Lightning striking the Eiffel Tower, 3 June 1902, one of the earliest photos of lightning in a city Paris, France. Photo by Gabriel Loppé, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
  5. An overnight storm over the port and lighthouse Port-la-Nouvelle, France. Photo by Maxime Raynal from France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  6. Sheet lightning lighting up the clouds over Mount Wellington Tasmania, Australia. Photo by JJ Harrison, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  7. A small storm that grew shortly after midnight Texas, USA. Photo by NOAA Photo Library, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
  8. A thunderstorm rolling across open country Pritzerbe, Germany. Photo by Mathias Krumbholz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  9. Lightning over the Hudson River valley New York, USA. Photo by Juliancolton, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  10. Multiple strikes in the early hours Belfort, France. Photo by Thomas Bresson, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  11. Lightning around the radio tower Vienna, Austria. Photo by Linie29, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  12. Several strikes caught in one long exposure Lake Constance, Germany. Photo by Matti Blume, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  13. A night storm over the city Kraków, Poland. Photo by Jakub Hałun, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  14. A second strike over the Isle of Dogs London, England. Photo by mattbuck, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  15. Lightning over boats moored off the Galite Islands Tunisia. Photo by Atef Ouni, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  16. A bolt hitting a lone conifer, which is why you never shelter under a tree Germany. Photo by Friedrich Haag, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.