Relationship between cloud‐to‐ground lightning flashes over the Iberian Peninsula and sea surface temperature

The correlation between cloud‐to‐ground (CG) lightning anomalies over the Iberian peninsula and sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in its bordering seas has been calculated. The results disclosed a significant link between them. The warmer SSTs in the Atlantic north‐west of the Iberian Peninsula and in the Cantabrian Sea are related to increased CG lightning activity over the Iberian Peninsula. The warmer SSTs in the Atlantic south of the Iberian Peninsula are related to increased CG lightning over the northern half of the Iberian Peninsula and to decreased CG lightning over the southern half. The Mediterranean Sea does not show significant links with CG lightning. The way these links work seems to involve changes in the advection of moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and the Cantabrian Sea as well as changes in static instability. It was also observed that there is no significant link between CG lightning anomalies and land surface temperature anomalies over the Iberian Peninsula.