36,749 lightning strikes in 13 hours recorded in India state

India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh recorded 36,749 lightning strikes in just a 13-hour period on Tuesday 24 April.

According to officials this number is unusually high and a result of “extreme weather patterns” in the region.

Nine people, including a nine-year-old girl, have been killed in the state by lightning strikes since Tuesday.

Although the area does experience such weather experts believe the increase is an anomaly produced by cold winds from the Arabian sea colliding with warmer winds from northern India, producing conditions that led to the formation of more clouds than usual at this time of year.