We are the most “struck” and it’s not what you think. The meteorological summer 2026 has just ended and leaves behind a rather impressive fact: ours was the country most affected by lightning in Europe.
The situation is photographed by Meteorage, a company controlled by Météo-France and specialized in the detection of atmospheric electrical activity, which analyzed the storms recorded between 1 June and 31 August.
Overall, the summer just gone was not among the most “electric” of recent years, but it was still marked by numerous episodes of intense bad weather, with violent hailstorms, gusts of wind, torrential rain and, in some cases, even tornadoes. Phenomena that did not only have consequences on the meteorological front: the storms caused transport disruption, problems with electricity networks, interruptions to outdoor events and activities and significant damage to agriculture, which is particularly vulnerable to hailstorms.
Almost 300 thousand lightning strikes in three months
Between June and August, the Meteorage network detected 298,341 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in Italy, compared to the 893,458 recorded overall in Europe. Numbers that bring our country to first place on the continent, ahead of France and Spain.
@Meteorage
But it’s not just about the absolute number of lightning strikes. Italy also leads the European ranking for lightning density, with an Nsg value equal to 4.73 ground contact points per square kilometer per year.
This indicator measures the number of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in relation to the surface area of an area and therefore allows for a more precise comparison of exposure to thunderstorms between countries of different sizes.
August was the most “electric” month
The busiest part of the summer came in August. In the last month of the meteorological season alone, 124,089 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes were recorded, almost 42% of all those detected in Italy during the summer of 2026.
In June there were 83,975, while in July 90,277.
The most affected regions in Italy:
Followed by Emilia-Romagna, Campania, Lazio, Calabria and Trentino-Alto Adige.
@Meteorage
The most affected provinces:
The top five provinces for cloud-to-ground lightning strikes were:
