Lightning flash report 2025
Europe / Spain
Discover Meteorage’s analysis of thunderstorm and electrical activity over the year.
Joris Royet, Chef de projet Météo, METEORAGE
2025 stands out as a year with historically few thunderstorms,
marked by generally low electrical activity across Europe, but punctuated by locally intense episodes.
With around 1.226 million cloud-to-ground lightning flashes detected in Europe, 2025 stands out for its thunderstorm activity below the climate normals, making it the year with the fewest lightning flashes observed to date by our Meteorage records. Although the atmospheric conditions limited the development of thunderstorms, some favourable situations nevertheless gave rise to intense, localised episodes, with more marked activity around the Mediterranean basin and on higher ground.
Beyond this report and the spatial distribution observed in 2025, analyses covering the past twenty years highlight a gradual northward shift of the thunderstorm belt, as well as a lengthening of the thunderstorm season, marked by earlier episodes in spring and later occurrences in autumn. These regional disparities are a reminder that lightning is never uniformly distributed and that, even in years when there is little activity, the issues of prevention, surveillance and lightning risk management remain fully relevant.
Our Meteorage lightning detection network recorded in 2025
In 2025, Europe experienced more sporadic thunderstorms than in 2024, but Spain stands out as an exception, remaining highly exposed to lightning activity this year. At the European level, lightning activity decreased compared with 2024, a year in which more than 1,967,112 cloud-to-ground flashes were recorded.
However, this decline does not apply uniformly across all countries. Spain, for example, with 427,000 cloud-to-ground flashes detected in 2025, compared with 514,557 in 2024, confirms that the country continues to be affected by frequent thunderstorms.
The number of lightning flashes from one year to the next does not in itself reflect the level of danger.
In 2025, there were fewer thunderstorms in Europe, but they were just as intense in some cases, and the risk to exposed activities could appear at any time.
— Stéphane Schmitt, Lightning Application Expert, Meteorage
Key facts
Although lightning flash activity in 2025 was below historical averages, the high interannual variability of thunderstorm activity does not yet allow a robust statistical trend to be identified.
360 days with thunderstorms
Most of the storm activity was concentrated between June and August (64%), when unstable conditions were most favourable, with a marked peak in June and almost 284,200 cloud-to-ground lightning flashes recorded across the continent, illustrating a sometimes early thunderstorm season.
In 2025, atmospheric circulation at European level favoured a concentration of convective activity around the Mediterranean.
The recurrent presence of high geopotentials over central and northern Europe limited the advance of unstable systems towards the north of the continent.
As a result, low-pressure circulations and dynamic forcing remained at low latitudes, interacting with warmer, more humid air masses around the Mediterranean, creating an environment more favourable to electrical activity.
— Joris Royet, Weather Project Manager, Meteorage
Top 10 most lightning-struck countries in Europe in 2025
The frequency, geographical distribution and intensity of thunderstorms vary with the seasons, depending on temperature, humidity and atmospheric dynamics.
The spring season totalled 233,316 cloud-to-ground lightning flashes, with very heterogeneous geographical distribution: little activity over the northern half of Europe, which remained largely under the influence of persistent anticyclonic conditions, greatly limiting the development of thunderstorms. Conversely, there was more regular activity in the south of the continent, particularly around the Mediterranean basin.
During this period, Spain was the country most affected, with 97,219 cloud-to-ground lightning flashes.
Summer saw 775,394 cloud-to-ground lightning flashes, representing more than half of the annual activity.
Although the thunderstorms developed mainly along the classic Spain – France – Germany axis, Italy also saw significant activity, becoming the country most struck by lightning in Europe during this season.
In the autumn, thunderstorms continued mainly:
- over the seas,
- over Mediterranean coastal regions (eastern Spain, southern France, Italy).
This local intensification is explained by the persistence of warm surface waters, while the lower continental layers cooled more rapidly. This vertical temperature contrast favoured convection, making thunderstorms sometimes intense and very rainy, depending on the passage of low-pressure systems.
Key facts
2025, a year highly impacted by lightning
The year 2025 in Spain was characterized by high lightning activity, with approximately 427,000 cloud-to-ground flashes detected, making it one of the most electrically active years since records began.
As is often the case, a marked contrast was observed: the north and east recorded significant electrical activity, while the south and west remained under the influence of high-pressure systems, limiting thunderstorm development.
Meteorological spring 2025 was particularly active, with nearly 98,000 cloud-to-ground flashes. This situation was driven by increased atmospheric instability, linked to the repeated presence of low-pressure systems off the coast of Portugal.
Thunderstorm activity developed mainly between May and July, with a notable peak in June, totaling approximately 122,700 cloud-to-ground flashes.
The summer season maintained this trend, with more than 247,000 cloud-to-ground flashes detected by Meteorage sensors, accompanied by several occasionally severe episodes, favored by a persistent low-pressure anomaly off the Portuguese coast.
During meteorological autumn, thunderstorm frequency gradually decreased. This decline resulted from cooling in the lower atmospheric layers and reduced solar radiation, which limited instability (CAPE) and the intensity of convective updrafts.
Focus on
The year 2025 stands out for its high lightning activity in Andorra, with more than 900 cloud-to-ground flashes detected during the summer alone, making it one of the most electrically active years since the first Meteorage records. This reflects a seasonal distribution typical of mountainous regions.
CASE STUDY
22–24 June 2025
A total of 237 cloud-to-ground flashes were detected in Andorra between 22 and 24 June, accounting for nearly one third of the annual activity.
Context
A cut-off low settled over Portugal during the second half of June, providing the necessary dynamical forcing across the Iberian Peninsula.
Instability increased as CAPE exceeded 1,500 J/kg. Several upper-level anomalies associated with this cut-off low allowed air masses to rise, leading to thunderstorm development over the Pyrenees.
2025, a quiet year, but real impacts.
Major accidents in 2025
Energy : wind turbines damaged or destroyed by lightning in the Netherlands, Spain and France, causing fires and major economic losses.
Transport : delays and interruptions to air travel (Orly and CDG airports) and rail travel in France, Germany and the UK following strikes on signalling systems.
Industry : business stoppages and damage to property following direct strikes on industrial sites (distillery and workshops in France) and leisure infrastructures (cable car in Italy).
Agriculture : mortality of sometimes entire herds in Spain and Ireland
Environment: at least two major forest fires were started by lightning, in Switzerland (Ticino) and Portugal (Coimbra district)
LOW ACTIVITY ≠ LOW RISK
Although 2025 was less stormy than normal at European level, the risk from lightning remained very real. The fall in the total number of lightning flashes does not automatically reduce exposure, which affects many sectors of activity.
Any thunderstorm, even a moderate one, can cause major and sometimes unexpected damage, including business stoppages, damage to sensitive equipment, economic losses or human risks.
A permanent risk, without borders or seasons
An analysis of the accidents which occurred in 2025 confirms that the consequences of lightning are not limited to extreme situations or to the summer period alone. The events recorded are spread throughout the year, demonstrating that the risk is permanent, even for phenomena considered minor. It is crucial to remember that the majority of serious accidents occur on days with a yellow weather warning, or even without any particular warning.
The accident at La Barben zoo (France) which occurred on a stormy but far from exceptional day, is a striking illustration of this.
This underlines the need for constant vigilance, even during episodes described as “moderate”.
Prevention for better protection
In response to this widespread risk, adopting appropriate preventive measures is essential with regard to raising awareness, the organisation of outdoor activities, protecting infrastructures and disseminating best practice to exposed teams.
With this in mind, Meteorage helps its customers and partners to protect themselves better, with training, lightning data, and warning, analysis and decision-making services. This expertise is also part of a wider mission to disseminate a risk culture through our commitment to standardisation, our international studies and publications, as well as educational initiatives and prevention messages accessible to all.
At Meteorage, we help our customers anticipate, monitor and manage thunderstorm risks with solutions tailored to each sector of activity.
Every day, our data enables our customers to schedule planned stoppages, protect their on-site teams, ensure continuity of service and secure their priority operations.
Terminology
To help you better understand the information in this report, here are the definitions for some of the most frequently used terms.
Cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning flash
Discharge of current of a certain intensity circulating between the cloud and the ground. Abbreviated to CG (Cloud-to-Ground).
Lightning density
The best current representation of thunderstorm activity is lightning density, which is the number of cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning flashes per km² per year.
Lightning flash
All current discharges and electrical impulses from a lightning event. A lightning flash can occur within the same cloud (IC), between a cloud and the ground (CG) or between two clouds (CC). A lightning flash can be composed of one stroke or many strokes, which are current discharges and electrical impulses.
Thunder day
Each day that lightning was detected in a given area.
About this lightning report
The lightning report is based on data provided by the METEORAGE network – the European Lightning Detection Network (ELDN).
The information we provide concerns cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning flashes and lightning density.
To be able to compare these data with the data collected, METEORAGE counts the main current pulse circulating between the cloud and the ground, defined in this report by the term “Cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning flash”.
Our expertise draws on more than ten years of analysis, observation and data collected in Europe, and more broadly worldwide. We have over 37 years’ expertise in France.
The performance of our network has been validated scientifically and delivers the best possible results with:
- > 98% lightning flash detection,
- a median detection accuracy of 100 meters,
- > 90% distinction made between cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning flashes and intra-cloud lightning flashes.
The METEORAGE network (ELDN) consists of more than 100 lightning sensors, calculators and a processing system that manages the databases. Our lightning sensors are based on the Vaisala technology, currently considered one of the best in the world. Our network achieves levels of performance validated by numerous scientific studies and publications.
This 2025 report is based on the most comprehensive source of information in the United Kingdom. The data, densities, rankings and thunder days in this report are dated from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025.
