A rare moment was captured on video as the Fuego volcano in Guatemala shot ash and powerful lightning bolts into the sky.

During the eruption of the Fuego volcano, lightning discharged from the ash cloud from the erupting volcano, known as a dirty thunderstorm.

Volcanic lightning is generated by the friction of different sized ash particles, rock and other materials collide and create static electricity.

When the electrical charge is big enough, particularly during large eruptions with towering columns of ash, it produces lightning.

However instead of lightning coming from clouds as we are familiar with in storms, it comes from the volcano itself - in this case a stratovolcano.

Research shows that approximately 35% of volcanic eruptions are accompanied by lightning. It also recently occurred during a volcanic eruption on the Canary Island of La Palma in 2021.

A volcanologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory also stated that the sight of volcanic lightning can aid as a monitoring tool, given the fast detection of lightning in technology.