I'd heard that you shouldn't stand under a tree, but hadn't understood why. So I did a quick search on YouTube and found this ... spectacular (from a nature point of view) but you wouldn't want to be stood next to / under it - the power, it's electrifying ...Trees are generally not recommended to shelter under, partly because of the possibility of the lightning jumping across to you in the event of a strike but mostly because a lightning bolt is so hot that the tree sap will instantly flash to steam causing an explosion.![]()
That demonstrates it really well with the top part of the tree being blown apart.I'd heard that you shouldn't stand under a tree, but hadn't understood why. So I did a quick search on YouTube and found this ... spectacular (from a nature point of view) but you wouldn't want to be stood next to / under it - the power, it's electrifying ...:
Do that and you're increasing the area in contact with the ground. And the number of routes that any strike can follow through you.Some good advice there, thank you. One of those links debunks the lie flat on the ground advice that I've seen posted elsewhere on the web.![]()
My dad saw lightning hit the ground in a field full of cows once. Every single one of the animals died! A farmer stood nearby survived. The thinking was that the electricity surging through the ground found it easier to take a shortcut through the animal rather than passing through several feet of soil. The current caused fatal heart attacks in the beasts. The farmer's feet were insulated by his wellies and were close together anyway so there wouldn't have been such a big potential difference between them as there would have been between the 2 ends of a cow.Some good advice there, thank you. One of those links debunks the lie flat on the ground advice that I've seen posted elsewhere on the web.![]()
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