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A4 checklist with all illustrated steps. Tick the boxes on paper as you go.

FeatherSticks · Skills

Thunderstorms & Lightning Safety Outdoors: Camping and Hiking Guide

In a thunderstorm, no place outdoors is safe – but some are far worse.

Quick facts

Safe places
Solid building or closed hard-top car only
Danger distance
Under 30 s flash to thunder (≈ 10 km)
All-clear
30 minutes after the last thunder
You need
Forecast, a watch, a sit pad, a plan B

What you need

  • Forecast and warning app, downloaded before you lose signal
  • Watch to count flash to thunder
  • Closed-cell sit pad (also for the lightning crouch)
  • Rain jacket and a dry warm layer
  • Map with escape routes, huts and car parks marked
  • First aid kit and emergency blanket
  • Charged phone for the 112 call

Step by step

  1. Check forecast and storm warnings

    1 Check forecast and storm warnings

    Read the official forecast and warnings before you go. On storm days, plan to be off summits, ridges and open water by early afternoon.

  2. Watch the sky from late morning

    2 Watch the sky from late morning

    Cumulus growing taller than wide, hard cauliflower towers or an anvil top mean storms are building. Change the plan now, not at the first thunder.

  3. Count from flash to thunder

    3 Count from flash to thunder

    About 3 seconds per kilometre. Under 30 seconds the storm can reach you: move to lower, less exposed ground at once.

  4. Get off ridges and summits early

    4 Get off ridges and summits early

    Descend from peaks, ridges and open slopes towards lower terrain and, if possible, a building or car. Leave via-ferrata cables and metal fences behind.

  5. Avoid lone trees, water and metal

    5 Avoid lone trees, water and metal

    Never shelter under an isolated tree, mast or rock pinnacle. Get out of water, away from wire fences, put poles away and spread the group out.

  6. Help a struck person at once

    6 Help a struck person at once

    Lightning victims carry no charge. Call 112, check breathing and start CPR if they are not breathing normally.

Common mistakes

  • Waiting for the first thunder before leaving a summit or ridge.
  • Sheltering under a lone tree, a rock overhang or in a shallow cave.
  • Believing a tent or tarp protects you from lightning.
  • Huddling together as a group instead of spreading out.
  • Lying flat on the ground instead of crouching with feet together.
  • Returning to exposed ground as soon as the rain stops instead of waiting 30 minutes.
  • Camping in a dry stream bed or gully in thunderstorm season.