US lightning flash was longest on record at 515 miles, scientists say

The 2017 flash, which stretched from east Texas to near Kansas City, beat the previous record by almost 50 miles

A 515-mile (829km) lightning flash has set a new record as the longest ever identified.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed the new world record for the flash registered on 22 October 2017 over the Great Plains in the US. It stretched from east Texas to near Kansas City, Missouri, roughly the distance between Paris and Venice.

The previous record of 768km was also recorded in the Great Plains, a hotspot for severe thunderstorms, on 29 April 2020.

Since 2016, scientific advances in space-based mapping have allowed for lightning flashes to be measured over a broader space, allowing these long flashes to be recorded.