2019 Weather Photographer of the Year

The Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS) announced the winners of 2019 Weather Photographer of the Year at its Weather Live event in October. https://www.rmets.org/news/weather-photographer-year-2019.

More than 5,700 images were submitted for the competition by 2,000 photographers from around the world. The overall winner was a beautiful image taken by Gareth Mon Jones showing cloud, trapped under a temperature inversion, filling the valley beneath him in Snowdonia. The image was entitled ‘Above My Expectations’.

Amongst the many varied entries, there were dramatic images of lightning strikes and huge supercells were along with images of more benign weather, including shallow fog and snow rollers. There were 24 stunning images among the winners and shortlisted entries, all of which appear in the RMetS’s annual calendar https://shop.rmets.org/collections/products/products/rmets-calendar-2020.
Liz Bentley, RMetS Chief Executive praised the “quality and quantity of outstanding images” entered into this year’s competition. Also she commented that the photographs speak volumes about our obsession in the weather – capturing its beauty, its power and its fragility in the face of human activity.

The winner of the 17-and-under category was Hugo Begg with his image of lightning spearing through low clouds in the Trail Bay National Park in Australia.

Watch out for information about the 2020 Weather Photographer of Year competition which opens in the spring.