Weather Photographer of the Year 2026 opens to entries

Weather Photographer of the Year 2026 opens to entries

Photographers are encouraged to submit their most spectacular pictures of weather

Maria Hodson

To all weather watchers, sky starers, cloud gazers and happy snappers out there – this is your moment. The Weather Photographer of the Year 2026 competition has just launched and is accepting entries until 20 August.

Run by the Royal Meteorological Society, the international competition is now in its second decade. Photographers are invited to enter images that celebrate and showcase the weather in all its glory. It particularly recognises photographs that capture dramatic weather events or depict the impact of a changing climate.

'Volcanic Majesty' by Aung Chan Thar made the shortlist in 2025. Shot on a mobile phone at Indonesia's Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, Mount Bromo and Mount Semeru rise above a sea of mist, with a pyrocumulus cloud stretching into the sky (Photo: Aung Chan Thar)

The competition is open to all photographers, from keen amateurs to experienced professionals. Photographers can submit their entries via the website between 11 June and 20 August 2026. The shortlist will be announced on 22 October, followed by a global public vote. The winners will be announced on 17 November 2026.

'Rainbow Gateway to Bled', taken at Lake Bled in Slovenia by Eloise Matthews, shows a double rainbow arching over the island's church. It made the shortlist in 2025. (Photo: Eloise Matthews)

This year, there are four main categories. Weather Photographer of the Year is awarded to the most striking image of the weather in action and offers a £1,500 prize. Mobile Weather Photographer of the Year celebrates the best images captured on a smartphone or tablet and offers a £500 prize. The Climate Award has a prize of £500 and recognises photography that tells a compelling story about our changing climate. The Public Favourite is decided by a global public vote.

Professor Liz Bentley, chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, says: "The Weather Photographer of the Year competition continues to showcase the remarkable ways in which weather shapes our world, from moments of natural beauty to events of significant impact. As our climate changes, these images play an increasingly important role in helping people understand and engage with the science behind weather and climate."

In 'Lenticular Invasion' by Victor Cirstet, stacked Altocumulus lenticularis clouds roll over the landscape of Adelaide Island in Antarctica. Shortlisted 2025 (Photo: Victor Cirstet)

Other shortlisted entries from Weather Photographer of the Year 2025

'Eunice III' by 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.
'The Birth of a New Universe' by 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.
'Jellyfish Invasion in the Sky' by Alfons Puertas. Virga clouds (Altocumulus stratiformis) stretch over Barcelona like jellyfish tentacles. Virga forms when precipitation evaporates before reaching the ground, revealing complex air movements.
'Trolley Park' by Ian Knight. The calm waters of a flooded car park in Stafford reflect a shopping trolley shelter and the trolleys inside. Urban flooding is more frequent in the UK due to heavier rainfall that has nowhere to go.
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Maria Hodson

Maria Hodson is production editor at BBC Countryfile Magazine, alongside Margaret Bartlett. Since moving to Bristol in 2014, Maria has made every effort to escape into nature and loves all things wild and watery, from surfing and swimming to paddle-boarding and kayaking. Her adventure highlight in recent years was sea kayaking around remote St Kilda, off the coast north-west Scotland, in 2016. Most weekends, however, are spent exploring the great outdoors with her small child and doing accessible walks. Favourite family adventures are bird-watching at Slimbridge Wetland Centre and exploring the Forest of Dean, as well as an annual pilgrimage to see the starling murmuration on the Somerset Levels.
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