Overview
- A widely shared video showed a bolt of lightning hit the Eiffel Tower during a thunderstorm in Paris and drew a surge of social media attention.
- Engineers and unnamed experts told reporters the tower's iron framework acts like a conductor that routes electric current safely into the ground.
- Modern surge‑protection systems were credited with protecting elevators, lighting and communications gear from damage during the strike.
- The monument is reportedly struck several times each year without major harm and authorities may temporarily close parts of the site during severe weather as a safety precaution.
- The strike occurred against a backdrop of intense heat followed by powerful storms across Western Europe that have produced dramatic lightning footage and raised public concern.