The ominous cloud signaling heavy rain, the snow-covered countryside, and the transition between the seasons are stunning weather phenomena captured by photographers around the world.
Standard Chartered, a multinational bank from the UK, has announced the winners of the Weather Photographer of the Year 2024 competition. According to the organization, the event aims to celebrate the diverse scenes of weather and highlight the significant impact of climate change. This photo, titled “Rowing” by photographer Gerson Turelly, won the People’s Choice Award. It depicts a man kayaking through the streets of Porto Alegre, Brazil, after a devastating flood hit the area in spring. The man is moving into a heavily flooded area to rescue trapped victims. (Photo: Gerson Turelly).
The Royal Meteorological Society stated that the awards were carefully selected by a group of experts from meteorology, photography, and journalism fields. This year, the competition received entries from photographers in 84 countries. The image features multiple streams of red, ethereal lightning appearing in the sky over Chongming District, Shanghai, after a series of thunderstorms struck the city. The photo titled “Dancing Lightning in the Dark” by Wang Xin won the Weather Photographer of the Year 2024 award. The judges remarked that this was a spectacular sight as it is very rare to see such a level and quantity of ethereal lightning. (Photo: Wang Xin).
“Circular Rainbow” is a photo taken with a smartphone that won third place. The author, Peter Reinold, shared that he captured this complete circular rainbow while passing through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (USA). A judge noted that this phenomenon lasted only for 1 second, and Peter managed to catch it. (Photo: Peter Reinold).
Lincoln Wheelwright won the Young Photographer of the Year award with the image “Fire and Ice”, taken from his home in Austin, Texas (USA), as a thunderstorm approached. Through this work, viewers can feel the Gulf of Mexico warming rapidly due to climate change, which increases the supply of moist air and intensifies the likelihood of severe storms in the area. (Photo: Lincoln Wheelwright).
Photographer Andy Gray presented readers with a spectacular display of frost in the Derwent Valley, United Kingdom. The photo “Frozen Paradise” captured the judges’ affection through its colors and lighting, as well as the ethereal feel from the rolling hills, various trees, and the mist. (Photo: Andy Gray).
“African Dust on top of Athens” was the runner-up in the smartphone photography category. The photo reflects the impact of dust from the Sahara Desert on Athens (the capital of Greece) in April 2023. This event serves as a reminder of the interconnected weather conditions around the globe, which particularly impressed the judges. (Photo: Lesley Hellgeth).
“Promise of a Saturated Earth and Sky” by Ellis Skelton ranked second in the Young Weather Photographer category. The author provides a panoramic view of the Cuckmere Valley in East Sussex (a county in Southeast England). The judges noted that the photo appears to showcase two seasons: summer on the left and autumn on the right. The contrast of the beautiful sky with the flooding below serves as a reminder of both the wonder and suffering that the sky can bring. (Photo: Ellis Skelton).
“Untitled” is the winning work of the Weather Photographer of the Year on smartphone from Standard Chartered. The photographer intended to capture a moment at dawn but instead captured the stunning scene of a volcano smoking in East Java, Indonesia. The judges praised the delicacy of the photo, appreciating the combination of the curves of the landscape and trees in the foreground with the basin of clouds and the blue sky above. (Photo: Nur Syaireen Natasya Binti Azaharin).
“Aria Rain” won the Young Weather Photographer of the Year award. The photo by Widmann captured a scene during an outdoor performance of Madame Butterfly, located on the eastern shore of Lake Constance in Bregenz, Austria. (Photo: Angelina Widmann).
Photographer Jamie Russell observed the sea and air to capture the photo “Rainy Afternoon at the Top of The Needles”. He describes several heavy rain showers forming about 32 km to the north-northwest, likely to pass over the Isle of Wight (UK). “We went to Colwell Bay, capturing the scene of a rainbow arching over the ridge of the island. However, the composition was challenging, and the rough seas posed a challenge. So I used a drone, and the scene was much more impressive,” Russell said. (Photo: Jamie Russell).
