Meteorage’s toll crowns Italy: 298,341 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes between June and August, beaten by France and Spain.
We are a country of lightning strikers. The meaning is literal, therefore electric: following the end of the meteorological summer, which by definition runs from June 1st to August 31st, society Meteorage of Pau, controlled by Meteo-Francerecognized as the most important in Europe for the detection of atmospheric discharges, presented the balance of the thunderstorm activity observed in Italy and Europe in the last three months. Its detection network has been collecting data since 1989 and is capable of detecting 98% of discharges with a localization accuracy of the order of 100 meters.
Although the summer of 2026 is not among the seasons richest in lightning in recent years, it will be remembered for numerous severe thunderstorms which caused intense hailstorms, destructive gusts of wind, heavy rainfall and locally even tornadoes. These phenomena have had concrete consequences for numerous economic sectors, generating inconveniences in transport, impacts on electrical networksdisruptions to outdoor activities such as sporting events, damage to sensitive infrastructure and even caused damage in agriculture.
The European record for discharges to the ground and the density index
In the period under review the network Meteorage detected 298,341 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in Italy between 1 June and 31 August and at a European level, a total of 893,458 were counted. The numbers therefore say that Italy is confirmed as the most electrocuted country in Europe ahead of France And Spain. In addition to this European record, Italy also occupies first place in the ranking for lightning density, with a value (called Nsg) equal to 4.73 points of ground contact per square kilometer per year.
Lightning density is today considered one of the most representative indicators of thunderstorm activity as it expresses the number of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes compared to the surface area of the territory. This index allows you to more accurately compare storm exposure between countries of different sizes.
Fiery August and the regional map of the most affected provinces
The month of August was particularly active with 124,089 events (42% of the total), as electrical activity was concentrated mainly in the second part of the summer. In June there were 83,975 and in July 90,277. The brightest day of 2026 was August 20th with 19,959 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, followed by August 17th with 13,094 discharges and August 25th with 12,415.
At a regional level, they are at the top of the rankings Lombardy And Venetowith 36,076 and 30,397 lightning strikes respectively, therefore Piedmont (28,703), Tuscany (26,920) e Sicily (23,467). Followed by Emilia-Romagna, Campania, Lazio, Calabria and Trentino-Alto Adige. To be precise, the most affected provinces in terms of number of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes were: Cuneo (9,740); Trento, (7,636); Grosseto (7,377); Turin (7,244) and Brescia (7,142).
Expert analysis between supercells and seasonal comparisons
Second Joris RoyetWeather Project Manager of Meteoragethe summer of 2026 stands out more for the severity of some events than for the overall level of electrical activity: “This year’s summer” says Royet “has been characterized by numerous severe storm episodes in Europe. Different atmospheric configurations have favored the development of supercells capable of producing intense hailstorms and destructive gusts of wind, up to some tornadoes”.
Electrical activity was concentrated mainly in the second half of June and during a particularly active August, marked by several intense storm waves. Italy is once again among the European countries most exposed to lightning, thanks to the strong summer instability, the influence of Mediterranean air masses and to the effect of the reliefs which frequently favor the development of thunderstorms. But despite some particularly significant episodes, the summer of 2026 is not among the most active in recent years. Since it remains significantly higher than that observed in summer 2025.”
