Solar and stellar flares are interpreted so far as an instability of a large scale magnetic neutral sheet. In this article, we assume that the active region is highly inhomogeneous: a large number of magnetic loops are simultaneously present, interacting and randomly forming discontinuities in many independent points in space. These magnetic discontinuities release energy and force weaker discontinuities in their neighbourhood to release energy as well. This complex dynamical system releases constantly energy in the form of small and large scale explosions. Clustering of many discontinuities in the same area has the effect of large scale explosions (flares). This type of flare with spatiotemporal fragmentation and clustering in all scale structures will be called here the statistical flare. Using this approach we can predict the peak luminosity distribution of flares, the heating of the corona through nanoflares and the acceleration of particles during flares. The results agree well with the existing observations.