Diese beeindruckende Schraube trifft auf das Meer, nicht zu weit von Elena. CARRARA, ITALIEN: DIESE FREUNDINNEN denken, dass sie verrückt ist, nachdem sie den letzten f verbracht hat
This impressive bolt strikes down onto the sea not too far from Elena. CARRARA, ITALY: THIS WOMAN'S friends think she's mad after she spent the last five-years chasing storms - at one point coming within metres of a bolt of lightning. In one image, a powerful lightning strike landed in the sea just several-hundred yards off the coast of the small town of Riogmaggiore, Italy. In another, a lightning strike connected with a nearby peak and illuminated the sky with an eerie purple light. Photographer, Elena Salvai (53) from Carrara, Italy, has been chasing storms for five years. Known to others as ?the queen of the storm, ? Elena travels around the country in an attempt to capture the very best lightning strikes. On average, Italy receives 1, 500, 000 lightning strikes a year. The north-eastern Friuli region receives more lightning than anywhere else in Europe - around 50 days of lightning a year. Lightning naturally occurs when two electrically charged regions ? either in the ground or in the atmosphere ? equalise themselves causing an electrostatic release of energy. Lightning subsequently causes the release of thunder ? a sound resulting from the sudden increase in pressure to gases surrounding the lightning strike. mediadrumworld.com / Elena Salvai
