Thunder storm in Derby right now. View a real-time lightning strike map.

After weeks of very dry very hot sunny weather we have finally been greeted by thunderstorms first thing in the morning. Also lots of very heavy rain which is causing lots of localised flooding.
Did you know that you can view a real-time lightning strike map of the UK so you can see where the thunderstorm is and how severe it is?

Here is a screen grab showing the last 60 minutes of lightning strikes for the UK.
The next image below this one is a current map of lightning strikes for the UK for comparison. Scroll down a bit to see the live map data.

Lightning strike map for UK on 23rd July 2013 @ 5am

Personally I enjoy watching a good thunderstorm and trying to predict if the storm is getting closer or further away by counting in seconds between the flash and the thunder.
There are lots of books on the subject.


Next time there is a thunderstorm in the Derby area you may be able to see it comming by looking at the local webcams - Derby and Derbyshire webcams.

Live real-time lightning strike map for UK
If you would like to see real-time lightning strike map for the UK right this second then here it is below.
If there are no coloured markers on it then thats because there are no thunderstorms at the moment!
The map below shows all of the lightning strikes that have occurred in the last 60 minutes. Also what charge they were and if they connected between clouds or to the ground.

Here is the key
+CG Positive cloud to ground strike
-CG Negative cloud to ground strike
+IC  Positive in cloud or intracloud strike
-IC   Negative in cloud or intracloud strike

Photographing lightning is very difficult and offers a great challenge

Here is some intracloud lightning in Derby, NOT the Derby in Derbyshire but the Derby in Kansas, USA !



Hope you found this of interest.

Thanks
Andy