A massive lightning bolt was detected that stretched along three US states and broke the record for the longest lightning in the world.

Weather of Arabia - Scientists have confirmed that a thunderbolt stretched along three American states, setting a new record for the longest lightning in the world.

The lightning bolt stretched for 769 kilometers and crossed the states of Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

Shocking! Within this cluster of storms, a single lightning bolt captured by @NOAASatellites in April 2020 was recently certified by the @WMO as the world's longest flash on record with a distance of 477 miles. MORE: https://t.co/LdDQ0Avdll #Megaflash #Lightning #Weather pic.twitter.com/FzD9ShfnRR

— NOAA (@NOAA) February 1, 2022

Thus, this thunderbolt has broken the previous record that was set in Brazil in 2018, and the length of the thunderbolt was 709 kilometers.

Another lightning in Uruguay in 2020 broke a record in terms of duration, as it took 17.1 seconds, and the previous record was 16.7 seconds.

Randall Cervini of Arizona State University, head of records confirmation at the Met Office, explains that lightning typically extends no more than a few kilometers (a bolt of lightning is rarely more than 10 kilometers long) and lasts less than a second.

Cervini added: "These two numbers represent exceptional lightning strikes, yet both records occurred in areas of the world prone to intense storms that can cause massive flashes - specifically, the Great Plains of North America, and the La Plata Basin in South America."

The World Meteorological Organization indicated that the standard lightning flashes were not isolated events - both occurred during severe and large-scale storms. They also emphasized that the records were not related to climate change and that both occurred far in the sky too high to pose a risk to humans. However, the organization says that thunderstorms should always be taken seriously.

"Lightning is a major threat that takes many lives every year," WMO President Petteri Taalas said in a statement.

"Long flashes of lightning highlight public safety concerns from lightning strikes, as the flashes can travel very large distances," he continued.

The organization says that the only sites that are safe from lightning strikes are large buildings with wires and pipes, or vehicles completely covered with metallic coverings.