Europe’s newest satellite, Meteosat-12, operated by the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), has captured stunning new video of lightning flashes in the sky over Africa and Europe.

The video was shot about 22,000 miles (35,405 km) above Earth and shows lightning flashes and tremors from space. While satellites working with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have used them before, this new satellite is the first of its kind to provide such a lightning image to European weather forecasters.

The satellite is also the first of the new family of third generation European Meteosats. As climate change continues to progress, severe thunderstorms are becoming more common, and understanding how to better predict them has become a key goal for many meteorologists around the world. Lightning can often be a strong indication that severe weather is approaching.

In fact, most lightning strikes occur during heavy rain. Europe is reportedly warming twice as fast as any continent in the world. That’s why European scientists are working as hard as they can to find better ways to predict and understand the weather changes we’re seeing. Being able to predict weather events more accurately can help save lives from floods and other severe weather events.

Satellite builders say lightning is a great tool for this purpose, especially if you have satellites like the Meteosat-12 that can see a large part of the earth at once.