The World's Weirdest Weather

Fire (1x1)

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Alex explores strange weather associated with fire, from firenadoes to upward lightning, lightning created in volcanic explosions and raging bush fires called firestorms; as well as exploring how lightning storms rage on planets millions of miles from Earth. Lightning strikes Earth 45 times a second. Britain gets around 300,000 strikes, with between 30 and 60 people being hit. The programme hears remarkable first-hand accounts from those who have survived lightning strikes, and learns about the strange effects lightning can have on a human body. Alex travels to Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela, the lightning capital of the world, where there are near-constant lightning storms with thousands of strikes every night. Footage captured by the public on smartphones and digital cameras reveals the many varied forms lightning can take, from St Elmo's fire coursing through the fuselage of a commercial airliner, to ball lightning high in the sky and lightning inside a snow storm. Alex examines the terrifying spectre of a firenado, a catastrophic combination of a tornado and a wild fire, a swirling pillar of fire that can reach 800 degrees centigrade; as well as firestorms: a wild fire so powerful it creates its own weather, including lightning bolts that set even more fires. He also investigates fire from within the planet and learns how a deadly combination of weather and volcanic eruptions created a lethal sulphur cloud that left a trail of destruction as it travelled over Europe.