Mother Nature puts on a show: Dazzling moment lightning strikes an erupting volcano sending bolts streaking across the night sky

The incredible moment lightning struck an erupting volcano in Guatemala has been caught on camera.

The fascinating footage shows several lightning bolts striking the mountain, creating a spider web pattern, streaking and flashing across the sky. The lightning strikes create a dazzling visual spectacle as they appear to converge on the lava and smoke emanating from the mountain’s vent.

The images show the Fuego Volcano, Fire Volcano, and occurred on September 21. The volcano is considered one of the most active in the world, spewing ash into the sky about every 15 minutes.

The phenomenon of lightning appearing to strike volcanic material as it is thrown into the sky is rarely observed.

So-called “volcanic lightning” results from the collision and fragmentation of particles of volcanic ash and sometimes ice, which generate static electricity in the volcanic plume.

The first recorded observations of volcanic lightning come from Pliny the Younger, describing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.

These stunning images show Guatemala’s Volcán de Fuego during one of its many eruptions last Thursday.

So-called “volcanic lightning” results from the collision and fragmentation of particles of volcanic ash and sometimes ice, which generate static electricity in the volcanic plume.

Due to its location in Guatemala’s Pacific Ring of Fire, it has an unusually high density of volcanoes.

The Roman author and administrator wrote: “There was a very intense darkness, made still more dreadful by the intermittent glow of the torches, obscured at intervals by the passing flash of lightning. »

Due to its location in Guatemala’s Pacific Ring of Fire, it has an unusually high density of volcanoes.

There are at least 324 volcanoes and “eruptive centers” across the country, around half the size of Britain.

Three of them, Fuego, Pacaya and Santiaguito, are currently active and under surveillance by Guatemalan authorities.

Fuego, which rises more than 10,000 feet above sea level, is the most active stratovolcano in Central America.

Its last significant eruption took place in December 2022, with ash landing up to 30 miles away.

Its eruption in June 2018 killed more than 300 people and threw ash 30,000 feet above sea level.

The hills around the volcano are full of accommodations where tourists can stay up and watch the volcano erupt all night.

Recently, heavy rains in the area have created a dangerous accumulation of mudslides, combined with abundant ash. In 1541, the mudslide created by the mixture of rain and volcanic ash destroyed the first established city in Guatemala, Ciudad Vieja, founded by Spanish conquistadors.