A woman has shared a terrifying photo of how close she and her partner came to death while on country walk.
Sophie Pass, 33, was on a wild swimming trip in the north of Scotland when wild storms broke out.
But an innocent picture revealed how much danger the couple were actually in.
Sophie told EdinburghLive : "Whilst on holiday, we had an amazing day up in north Scotland wild swimming.
"The water was calm, a breeze to keep the midges away, a good combination of sun and light cloud, stunning wildlife and scenery - just perfect conditions!
"After finishing our swim, we decided to go for a stroll around the Loch to finish off the day, which is a perfect spot for a selfie with such amazing views."
Sophie then pulled her phone out to take a photo with her partner Richard, also 33.
She added: "About a minute or so after this photo, Richard noticed that my hair was completely standing on end.
"I couldn’t feel a thing, and it was only then that I noticed his hair was also on end.
"At this stage the weather was fairly calm, there was a bit of drizzle, but nothing looking too ominous.
"Our gut instinct and our high school-level physics however made us suspect this probably really wasn’t a good thing and we were in a bit of a dangerous situation, so quickly headed back to our car - letting the other six or so walkers on the beach know what we were experiencing as we went.
"All other walkers had their hoods up so weren’t experiencing the same hair rising, but followed our lead and headed back to their cars.
"Whilst a heavy shower hit while everybody was in their cars, there was not thunder and lightning."
What the couple were experiencing was the static electricity in the air causes hair to stand on end when lightning is going to strike near you.
Sophie added: "It was only when in the car that we looked at the selfie and noticed it was already happening at that stage.
"After some Googling, we have a very good idea of how unbelievably lucky we both are to still be here and safe - along with everybody else on the beach."
Whilst it might be tempting to take a quick photo if your hair starts to do this because, let’s be honest, it’s pretty cool - you really don’t have the time.
If you can, seek close shelter immediately such as a car or a a building, if you can.
If this isn’t possible, crouch down low onto the balls of your feet with your heels touching, as this minimises contact with the ground.
Throw any and all metal objects as far away as possible and cover your ears, as the noise from a strike that close to you is phenomenal and can/most likely will, permanently damage your hearing.
As for the science behind the static hair, negative ions, also known as stepped leaders, are reaching down towards Earth milliseconds before a lightning strike, causing a positive charge - positive streamers - to rise up from points on the ground, which in this case was Sophie and Richard.
The lightning strike happens when these two charges meet and create a channel.
Thankfully, as the majority of people on the beach with Sophie and her partner swiftly exited to their cars, the stepped leaders couldn’t find any streamers that were rising up from them - hence there were no strikes in that location.
As the weather changes over the next few weeks due to the changing of the seasons, there will be scope for more thunderstorms to come our way.
Sophie said she has one final message for the public: "Nature is beautiful and we all need to look after her - but my god, she can be scary as hell too!"
