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The hazards of lightning - archive The hazards of lightning - archive The hazards of lightning - archive
(4 months later)
Since the war an average of eleven people a year – two of them women – have been killed in this country by lightning. Three people were killed on one day, Whit Sunday, this year. Our worst recorded disaster directly due to lightning occurred in August, 1939, when a park shelter in Ilford was struck. Seven were killed and 18 injured.Since the war an average of eleven people a year – two of them women – have been killed in this country by lightning. Three people were killed on one day, Whit Sunday, this year. Our worst recorded disaster directly due to lightning occurred in August, 1939, when a park shelter in Ilford was struck. Seven were killed and 18 injured.
The statistics show little obvious relation to the weather. The worst year recently was the heatwave summer of 1955 when 15 died. But in the equally famous summer of 1947 the figure was only seven.The statistics show little obvious relation to the weather. The worst year recently was the heatwave summer of 1955 when 15 died. But in the equally famous summer of 1947 the figure was only seven.
Ultimately, your chances of survival depend on the weather, and are much better in some parts of the country than others. For complete safety you will stay indoors through July and August, the most thunderous months. You will leave Britain’s most lethal area, South Yorkshire, where there are twenty days of thunder every year, for the west and northern coasts of Scotland, the west coast of Wales, or Cornwall, where there are only four.Ultimately, your chances of survival depend on the weather, and are much better in some parts of the country than others. For complete safety you will stay indoors through July and August, the most thunderous months. You will leave Britain’s most lethal area, South Yorkshire, where there are twenty days of thunder every year, for the west and northern coasts of Scotland, the west coast of Wales, or Cornwall, where there are only four.
Does smog save city?The difference is due to the sea. On the hottest day it will only heat up a few degrees to perhaps 65deg. The land will go up to 75 or 80deg. Thunderclouds are formed, in certain conditions, when the heated air rising off the land condenses. The cloud will build up, perhaps four miles high, while the friction caused by the rising column of air – which may be moving at 50 m.p.h. – produces an electric charge. The resulting difference in potential between the ground and the cloud will eventually cause a flash of lightning.Does smog save city?The difference is due to the sea. On the hottest day it will only heat up a few degrees to perhaps 65deg. The land will go up to 75 or 80deg. Thunderclouds are formed, in certain conditions, when the heated air rising off the land condenses. The cloud will build up, perhaps four miles high, while the friction caused by the rising column of air – which may be moving at 50 m.p.h. – produces an electric charge. The resulting difference in potential between the ground and the cloud will eventually cause a flash of lightning.
The town is more dangerous than the country. Concrete heats up in the sun faster. London has consistently more days of thunder than the areas about it. But Manchester (saved by its smog?) does no worse than the local average.The town is more dangerous than the country. Concrete heats up in the sun faster. London has consistently more days of thunder than the areas about it. But Manchester (saved by its smog?) does no worse than the local average.
If you prefer common sense to statistics as a lifesaver, keep your clubs down on the golf course, your gun down on your grouse moor, and above all keep away from trees. Two of those killed this year were ignoring this advice.If you prefer common sense to statistics as a lifesaver, keep your clubs down on the golf course, your gun down on your grouse moor, and above all keep away from trees. Two of those killed this year were ignoring this advice.
If you insist on sheltering, wait till the storm has started. A person is a better conductor of electricity than a dry tree. Among wet trees, head for one with smooth bark, such as a beech. The water running straight down will make it a relatively good conductor. With rough-barked trees like the oak, the lightning will travel, with difficulty through the sap. The tree itself is often split, as the sap is abruptly converted into steam. A German professor found that oaks were 62 times as liable to lightning damage as beeches.If you insist on sheltering, wait till the storm has started. A person is a better conductor of electricity than a dry tree. Among wet trees, head for one with smooth bark, such as a beech. The water running straight down will make it a relatively good conductor. With rough-barked trees like the oak, the lightning will travel, with difficulty through the sap. The tree itself is often split, as the sap is abruptly converted into steam. A German professor found that oaks were 62 times as liable to lightning damage as beeches.
You are relatively safe in a car, though not on a bicycle – a woman was killed cycling this year. Aeroplanes, often struck by lightning, are generally safe, though instruments and aerials may be damaged. Lightning is believed also to have caused fuel explosions in the air.You are relatively safe in a car, though not on a bicycle – a woman was killed cycling this year. Aeroplanes, often struck by lightning, are generally safe, though instruments and aerials may be damaged. Lightning is believed also to have caused fuel explosions in the air.
Wooden boats should be avoided, especially if they are equipped with gas, unless they have a lightning conductor. For lack of one, the 44-gun HMS Reliance blew up with most of her crew in 1798. Fifty years earlier, a powder magazine in Brescia went up, killing 3,000 people.Wooden boats should be avoided, especially if they are equipped with gas, unless they have a lightning conductor. For lack of one, the 44-gun HMS Reliance blew up with most of her crew in 1798. Fifty years earlier, a powder magazine in Brescia went up, killing 3,000 people.
Read the article in full.Read the article in full.