Lightning Map UK — Live Lightning Tracker

Greater London and the Thames Valley see frequent summer thunderstorm activity, with warm plumes crossing the Channel from France and Spain setting off lightning quickly.

The West Midlands urban heat island, combined with summer instability, often generates local slow-moving thunderstorms around Birmingham.

Sitting west of the Pennines, Manchester often sees thunderstorm bands triggered when Atlantic fronts meet higher ground.

Bristol and the Severn Estuary often sit on the track of thunderstorms moving up the Bristol Channel from the Celtic Sea and the Bay of Biscay.

On the South West peninsula, Plymouth is often among the first English cities reached by storms tracking up the English Channel and in from the Atlantic.

West Yorkshire convection often begins along the eastern slopes of the Pennines, bringing lightning to Leeds, Bradford and the Aire Valley.

Merseyside storms often arrive from Liverpool Bay and the Irish Sea, with flashes detected over the water before they reach land.

Thunderstorms around Newcastle upon Tyne are usually tied to vigorous cold fronts or to showers coming in off the North Sea on an easterly wind.

Edinburgh sees convective lightning mainly during warm summer air surges crossing the Border or drifting over the Firth of Forth.

The Clyde Valley is sheltered from some easterly storms but regularly catches active Atlantic fronts and the shower bands that follow them.

The Welsh capital regularly sees lightning from storm systems moving north-east across the Bristol Channel and the Glamorgan coast.

Thunderstorms over Belfast Lough and the Lagan Valley are usually set off by Atlantic fronts or by summer heating over the interior of Northern Ireland.