A Hokitika man considers himself lucky to tell the tale of being struck by lightning yesterday afternoon and his ute bursting into flames.

Caleb Harris, 20, spotted the dark storm clouds and lightning up ahead as he drove north to Golden Bay for work.

Soon, the rain began to fall at an incredible pace - to the point Harris’ wipers were on full volume.

Only 10 seconds after the rain fell, Harris said he felt a large bang. Photo / Caleb Harris

Ten seconds later, Harris said he felt a large bang. A bright flash appeared before his eyes, the car shook and his ears were ringing.

The lights on his dash lit up like a Christmas tree, and Harris felt a “massive” electric shock. He described it as like touching an electric fence, but worse.

“I’ve done dairy farming so I’ve touched an electric fence before, but this was a good zap.”

It took a second for Harris to process what had just happened.

The lightning bolt had hit the bonnet of his ute. Everything was smoking and he could already spot flames as he pulled over to the side of the road.

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He tried disconnecting the car’s battery but it was already too late. With the rain still bucketing down, Harris broke the back window of his ute and grabbed his work clothes from inside the car.

A friend arrived shortly after the fire started and helped him direct traffic until emergency services arrived. They stood back and waited for what felt like an inevitable explosion as the ute had a tank of diesel in it.

Thankfully, the explosion never came. Ambulance staff checked Harris and took him to Greymouth Hospital, where he stayed overnight while they monitored his heart.

With the only lasting injuries being cuts to his arm from broken glass, the young man said he got “a million calls” from family when they heard what happened.

The lightning bolt had hit the bonnet of his ute, he said everything was smoking and could already spot flames as he pulled over to the side of the road. Photo / Caleb Harris

“My family and siblings were pretty shocked, I just told them what happened and they seemed to believe me.”

The ute was completely burned out after the strike - the doors, windows and seats completely charred.

A passerby at the time of the strike said he was amazed Harris walked away unharmed.

Joshua Goldend saw Harris’ ute burning and said a man directing traffic told him about the strike.

“The rain had been bucketing down. There wasn’t much lightning actually, so he’s real unlucky to get it where he was,” he said.

“It’s just unbelievable and lucky he wasn’t affected. That’s a relief, it could have ended differently.”

Harris knows how lucky he was to walk away relatively unharmed.

“I’m just lucky to tell the tale, not many people have survived after being zapped,” he said.