Abstract: In order to study the characteristics of induced voltages on overhead multiconductor distribution lines due to lightning strike to a tall tower, a two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (2-D FDTD) algorithm model was proposed to calculate the lightning-generated electromagnetic fields based on the tower transmission line model, the lightning induced voltages on multiconductor distribution lines(horizontal and vertical configurations) were computed by means of the Agrawal coupling model, and the accuracy of the algorithm was verified by comparing with the relevant research results abroad. Moreover, the influence of lightning strike to a tall tower or idea flat ground was compared, and the effects of the distance, tower height, soil conductivity as well as well as the shielding wires were evaluated. The results show that the induced voltages produce obvious waveform oscillation and the amplitude increase significantly when lightning strikes a tower compared with flat ground. For the horizontal and vertical configurations, the peak voltages decrease with increasing distance from the lightning channel and increase with the decrease of the soil conductivity. When the tower height is less than the horizontal distance, the peak voltages are positively correlated with the tower height. In addition, the shielding wires can significantly reduce the induced voltages of the line endpoints, and the middle line and the line closest to the shielding wires of the horizontal and vertical configurations are most shielded, respectively. The research conclusions can provide references for lightning protection design of overhead lines.