A scientific study of ball lightning by British and Austrian experts has revealed how little is being done to tackle the deadly phenomenon.

The strikes, one of the theories put forward to explain the downing of an Air France jet off the coast of Brazil, are able to explode inside a plane's fuselage despite their anti-lightning design.

And they can cause injuries to passengers and aircrew as well as damaging the plane's fuselage from the inside, says the report, led by British scientist Robert Doe from the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation.