Live lightning map
Where lightning is striking right now and how far the storm is from you. Flashes seen from space by weather satellites: the Americas every minute, Europe and Africa every 5 minutes.
EUMETSAT MTG Lightning Imager (CC BY 4.0) · NOAA GOES-19 / GOES-18 GLM · OpenFreeMap © OpenStreetMap
What the lightning map shows
Every dot and patch on this map is lightning detected from orbit. Geostationary weather satellites carry special cameras that look for brief flashes of light in the clouds hundreds of times per second. They see both cloud-to-ground strikes and lightning that stays inside the cloud, which is several times more common.
Over the Americas we use the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) on NOAA’s GOES-19 and GOES-18 satellites: each dot is a single flash, coloured by how many minutes ago it was detected. Over Europe, Africa and the Middle East the data come from the Lightning Imager on EUMETSAT’s Meteosat Third Generation satellite, shown as coloured areas with recent lightning and updated every 5 minutes.
How to read the map and tell if a storm is coming
Bright yellow dots are the newest flashes, from the last 2-5 minutes. Orange and red ones are older, 5-15 minutes. When fresh flashes appear on one side of a cluster and old ones stay behind on the other, you can see which way the storm is moving.
To check how far away a storm is, click your spot on the map or use the location button. We show the distance and direction to the nearest lightning within 200 km (125 miles). Thunderstorms usually move at 20-60 km/h (12-37 mph), so lightning 30 km (20 miles) away can reach you within half an hour to an hour.
A satellite does not replace ground-based lightning networks: it locates flashes to within a few kilometres, and the European data arrive about 15-20 minutes late. Use the map as an overview, and if you hear thunder, simply go indoors.
Storm nearby? Lightning safety
When thunder roars, go indoors: if you can hear it, you are within striking distance. Count the seconds between the flash and the thunder and divide by 3 for kilometres or by 5 for miles. Under 30 seconds means about 10 km (6 miles), so get into a building or a hard-topped car and stay there until 30 minutes after the last thunder.
Outdoors, stay away from isolated trees, hilltops, poles and water. Do not shelter in a group, and if there is nowhere to go, crouch with your feet together. At home, avoid corded electrical devices and showers during the storm. In an emergency, call 911 in the US and Canada or 112 in Europe.
Storm radar for your city
Every city has its own page with rain radar, lightning from the last 15 minutes and average rainfall through the year. Weather radar →
FAQ
How often does the lightning map update?
Lightning over the Americas is refreshed every minute, and the GOES satellites write new data every 20 seconds. The image over Europe and Africa changes every 5 minutes and shows the situation from about 15-20 minutes earlier, because that is how long EUMETSAT needs to process the data. The page loads new data on its own.
Does the map cover the whole world?
It covers the Americas from Canada to Patagonia, the Atlantic and the eastern Pacific, Europe up to about 70° north, Africa and the Middle East. Asia and Australia are outside the range of these satellites, so lightning there is not shown.
What is the difference between a lightning map and weather radar?
Radar shows where it is raining and how hard; the lightning map shows where lightning strikes. Every thunderstorm produces lightning, but not every heavy downpour is a thunderstorm. The best view combines both, and you can switch on the lightning layer on our weather radar too.
Does the map show every lightning strike?
The satellites detect most flashes, including those inside clouds, but not all of them. The weakest flashes, those under very thick cloud, or flashes in bright daytime sunlight can be missed. Positions are accurate to within a few kilometres.
Where does the lightning data come from?
The Americas: NOAA, Geostationary Lightning Mapper on GOES-19 and GOES-18, public domain data. Europe and Africa: EUMETSAT, Lightning Imager on Meteosat Third Generation (MTG), licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Data sources
Europe and Africa: EUMETSAT Meteosat Third Generation Lightning Imager, Accumulated Flash Area product via EUMETView (Core data, CC BY 4.0 licence), an image every 5 minutes. The Americas: NOAA GOES-19 and GOES-18 Geostationary Lightning Mapper, L2 LCFA product from NOAA open data on AWS (public domain), flash centroids from the last 15 minutes binned to a 0.05° grid. Map: OpenFreeMap, OpenMapTiles, OpenStreetMap.
Europe and Africa: this service is based on EUMETSAT Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) Lightning Imager data 2026 (Accumulated Flash Area, via EUMETView), licence CC BY 4.0. The Americas: NOAA GOES-19 and GOES-18 Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) L2 LCFA data from NOAA Open Data on AWS (public domain); data modified: flash centroids from the last 15 minutes binned to a 0.05° grid. Map: OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.