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We are excited to announce the publication of the 7th Climate Science Briefing Paper on Solar Variability, as well as an accompanying podcast. The Society's Climate Science Communication Group is producing a series of Climate Science Briefing Papers with the aim to clearly and concisely explain important aspects of climate science.

It occurs over the mouth of the Catatumbo River where it empties into Lake Maracaibo in Venuzuela, South America. Each year, over 1.2 million bolts of lightning are confined to the mouth of the Catatumbo River - the single highest concentration of lightning in the world.

The Catatumbo lightning, whilst not rare or unusual, is a  remarkable feature in that it persists in the same place night after night. Indeed, the reliability of the storms means that they have historically been used as a maritime navigational aid.

I am often asked, when people see my award winning image of colossal lightning strikes crashing down above Blackpool, how I captured it. The answer is not that I was simply lucky, although luck played some part, but that a number of things came together to make the shot possible. It was actually the first time I had ever photographed lightning!

Safety first