Photo: Donna Cooper/FlickrThe Local · 17 Sep 2016, 20:41Published: 17 Sep 2016 20:41 GMT+02:00At a little over seven seconds France's lasts the longest but America's is by far the biggest. The UN World Meteorological Organization on Friday announced that France held the record for longest-lasting lightning bolt, with a flash on August 30, 2012 in the southeast of France lighting up the sky for a full 7.74 seconds. The horizontal bolt travelled 200 kilometres (125 miles), the WMO's Rapporteur of Weather & Climate Extremes, Randall Cerveny, told AFP. Story continues below…France was bested, however, in the distance stakes by the US. A lightning strike on June 20, 2007 in the state of Oklahoma covered a distance of 321 kilometres, the WMO said.

Source: The Local September 17, 2016 16:18 UTC