Vote now for your favourite weather photo!

by Kirsty McCabe, FRMetS

After carefully reviewing hundreds of amazing entries, the judges of the Royal Meteorological Society’s Standard Chartered Weather Photographer of the Year 2025 competition have chosen 25 standout photos. Now it’s your turn to decide which one deserves the top spot. 

From 18 September to 16 October 2025, you can cast your vote for your favourite image. The shortlist includes dramatic storms, glowing rainbows, icy winter scenes, colourful skies and even the Northern Lights. Some photos also highlight the growing impact of climate change, showing how weather is becoming more intense and unpredictable. 
 

View the shortlist and vote for your favourite

Here's a quick MetMatters overview to whet your appetite to this year's visual weather feast. Make sure to follow the link above to cast your vote and find out more about the science behind the images, hear the photographers' stories, and discover the creative techniques they used to capture each shot. 
 

West Texas Special — Jonah Lange

A towering tornado twists across the Texas Plains, pulling red dust into the sky. Hotter, drier conditions from climate change means more dust on the ground, making storms like this even more dramatic.

The Gorgeous Ring — Geshuang Chen

High above Lugu Lake in China, a drone captures a rare full-circle rainbow with an island at its centre. From the ground we only ever see an arch, but from above the entire colourful ring is revealed.

Eunice III — Jadwiga Piasecka

Waves explode against Newhaven’s sea wall as Storm Eunice blasts the English coast. The storm brought England's highest ever wind gust of 122 miles per hour, as well as widespread flooding and power cuts across the British Isles.

Sky Surfing — Lukáš Gallo

Kelvin-Helmholtz “wave” clouds curl above fields in Czechia's South Bohemia, looking like breaking ocean waves in the sky. These rare clouds form when layers of air move at different speeds, creating a fleeting, dramatic display.

Winnats Pass Inversion — Andy Gray

Fog drifts through the Hope Valley as car lights streak past in soft ribbons on a winter morning. Temperature inversions trap cold air below warmer layers, creating otherworldly fog in valleys.

Supercell Storm over the City — He Wei

A massive supercell looms over Shanghai, dwarfing the skyline beneath its swirling clouds. Supercells are the strongest thunderstorms on Earth and are becoming more powerful as seas warm.

Lenticular Invasion — Victor Cirstet

Lens-shaped clouds hover over the Antarctic Peninsula like an invading alien fleet. Lenticular clouds form when moist air flows over mountains, condensing into dramatic, layered shapes that seem frozen in place.

The Birth of a New Universe — Yevhen Samuchenko

Waterfalls, snow and starlight frame Iceland’s Kirkjufell mountain beneath the Northern Lights. Auroras appear when charged particles from the Sun collide with Earth’s atmosphere, painting the sky in shifting colours.

Good Morning Ice — Himadri Bhuyan

Fractal ice patterns stretch across Pangateng Tso Lake in India, frozen in delicate shapes. Climate change is disrupting traditional freeze-thaw cycles, affecting fragile mountain ecosystems.

Drzewo Słońca na Polu Snów (The Sun Tree in the Field of Dreams) — Krzysztof Tollas

Sunrise lights misty Polish fields, casting a golden glow around a lone tree. Radiation fog and sunlight combine to form crepuscular rays, creating a magical morning scene.

Spray — Shaun Mills

Storm waves crash against Norfolk’s sea defences, sending spray high into the air. Stronger storms and rising seas from climate change make low-lying coasts like Norfolk increasingly vulnerable.

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona — Carlos Castillejo Balsera

Lightning strikes above the Sagrada Familia, illuminating its towering spires. Warming temperatures and increased moisture can make powerful thunderstorms more common.

Reflections of Pearls — Matt Stuttard Parker

A patch of melted ice reflects rainbow-like nacreous clouds in northern Sweden. These rare clouds form high in the polar stratosphere, where temperatures drop below –78°C.

Jellyfish Invasion in the Sky — Alfons Puertas

Altocumulus stratisformis virga clouds stretch over Barcelona like floating jellyfish tentacles. Virga forms when precipitation evaporates before reaching the ground, revealing complex air movements.

Trolley Park — Ian Knight

The calm waters of a flooded car park in Stafford perfectly reflect a shopping trolley shelter and the trolleys inside. Urban flooding is becoming more frequent in the UK due to heavier rainfall that has nowhere to go.

Fishing in Rainy Season — Kyaw Zay Yar Lin

Two fishermen paddle through sheets of rain on Myanmar’s Inle Lake, staying afloat in a sudden downpour. Monsoon rains are vital for local life, but climate change is shifting rainfall patterns.

Path to the Heart of the Storm — Tamás Kusza

Dark clouds roll over Slovakian fields as a dirt track leads into the approaching storm. Summer storms like this are forming faster and bringing heavier downpours as Europe warms.

Puddle Fun — Adam D’Auria

In Düsseldorf, a puddle captures the sky while a boy jumps through it, scattering ripples everywhere. The reflection reverses the scene, creating a playful, fleeting inverted image.

Rainbow Gateway to Bled — Eloise Matthews

A double rainbow arches over Lake Bled, perfectly framing the island’s church. Rainbows form as sunlight bends and reflects inside raindrops, splitting light into vivid colours.

Solitude in the Embrace of Inversion — Dominika Koszowska

A frost-covered tree sparkles in front of golden fog in a Polish valley. Hoar frost forms when water vapour in the air freezes directly onto surfaces that are below freezing, creating delicate ice crystals.

Iridescent Skies over Rothera Research Station — Victor Cirstet

Pastel nacreous clouds shimmer above Antarctica during the depths of winter. Sunlight scattering through tiny ice crystals creates the rainbow-like colours high in the stratosphere.

Golden Canvas — Aung Chan Thar

Altocumulus clouds catch the golden sunrise over Inle Lake, reflected in calm waters with fishing boats drifting by. These clouds can sometimes signal a change in weather.

The Cyc-hoar-list — Chris Lehrbach

A steel cyclist statue is covered with icy spikes of hoar frost on a cold December morning. The freezing process is so quick that it traps air, giving hoar frost a white or silver opaque appearance.

Volcanic Majesty — Aung Chan Thar

Mount Bromo and Mount Semeru rise above a sea of mist and layered clouds in Indonesia’s volcanic park. The volcanic plume from Mount Bromo’s crater stretches into the sky, forming pyrocumulus clouds.

Other World — Simon Brown

Fog-filled valleys and frosted peaks in the Malvern Hills create a stunning dawn scene. The first hour after sunrise is called the “golden hour” because the light is warmer, softer and perfect for magical photos.

View the shortlist and vote for your favourite

Competition Timeline 

Public Vote Open: 18 September (07:00 BST) – 16 October 2025 (23:59 BST)  

Winner Announcement: 30 October 2025