WINTER WONDERLAND

Stunning shot of snow-covered crowds crossing Brooklyn Bridge in blizzard wins Weather Photo of the Year competition

AN INCREDIBLE picture of people crossing Brooklyn Bridge in New York during a blizzard has been picked as the winner of the Weather Photographer of the Year contest.

Rudolf Sulgan’s icy image, Blizzard, was chosen as the overall winner in the competition, organised by the Reading-based Royal Meteorological Society.

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Blizard by Rudolf Sulgan, from New York, was the overall winner of the competition

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First runner up was a picture called Tea Hills by Vu Trung Huan, from Vietnam – showing the misty hills just before a beautiful sunrise

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Surf’s Up by Emma Rose Karste was taken in Wildwood, Missouri

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A spectacular double rainbow shot at Mangersta sea stacks, Isle of Lewis, Scotland by Richard Fox

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A semi-feral pony caught under the rainbow on Cefn Bryn Common, Swansea

The popular competition, which is now in its fifth year and runs in association with AccuWeather, attracted over 7,700 entries from around the world.

From shots of weather phenomena such as clouds, lightning, rain, fog and snow, through to the impact of weather on humans, cities, and the natural landscape – the competition was this year was fierce.

More than 2,600 photographers submitted images, creating a challenging task for the judging panel.

Winner Rudolf said: “I made this image in 2018, during a strong blizzard as El Nino’s periodic warming of water often disrupts normal weather patterns.

“My main concern and inspiration are that my images hopefully do a small part in combating climate change.”

Liz Bentley, chief executive of RMetS and panel judge, said: “The weather affects all of our lives and this picture captures that perfectly.

“Brooklyn Bridge provides an iconic backdrop, but it is the combined effect of snow, wind and freezing temperatures on the people trying to cross the bridge that tells the whole story – it sends a shiver down my spine.”

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The Young Weather Photographer of the Year 2020 winning shot, called Frozen Life, by 17-year-old Kolesnik Stephanie Sergeevna

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Stunning white uniform trees amid the mist in Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, not too far from Steamboat Springs, Colorado

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Dream by Madison shows early morning mist rippling through the autumnal land

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A Thirsty Earth by Abdul Momin, taken in Chittagong, Bangladesh showing the cracking land during an intense drought in the area

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A stunning halo cloud over mountaintops in Argentina, captured by Francisco Javier Negroni Rodriguez

This was echoed by judge Jesse Ferrell, AccuWeather expert meteorologist and social media manager: “The best photos make me feel like I was there when they took it, as if I were having their experience.

“‘Blizzard’ does this for me. I feel the full impact – the chill of the winter air, the snowflakes hitting my face, and the people enjoying the snow, with older folks remembering previous snows and children just forming memories that will last for years.”

The other judges were Gareth Mon Jones, the winner of Weather Photographer of the Year 2019 and Matt Clark, the photo editor of RMetS Weather magazine.

The Young Weather Photographer of the Year 2020, for budding creatives aged 17 and under, was awarded to 17-year-old Kolesnik Stephanie Sergeevna, from Russia, with her image Frozen Life, which shows a frozen leaf.

Kolesnik said: “The photo is of a leaf stuck in the ice. I wanted to take this shot because it is a ‘part of sunny Summer frozen in ice’.

“Time seems to have stopped for this leaf.”

A shortlist of 26 images were put to a public vote, with an overwhelming response of 11,275 votes cast for the finalists, representing 15 countries.

The winning image was Baikal Treasure, taken by Alexey Trofimov at Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest and largest freshwater lake, in Siberia, Russia.

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The lake is covered in ice for almost five months of the year and as the temperature drops through winter, the uneven freezing of the lake results in some blocks being pushed up, which are then sculpted by the wind, sublimation, melting and refreezing.

The winners were announced today at RMetS WeatherLive: Past, Present and Future – Celebrating 170 years of the Royal Meteorological Society.

A calendar featuring all the winners and finalists of Weather and Young Weather Photographer of the Year 2020 is now available to buy via the RMetS online shop.

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Halo by Mikhail Kapychka was taken in Mogilev, Belarus – showing a stunning lunar halo in the night sky, which the photographer described as the ‘eye of God’

Kaleidoscope ripples of water captured by Andrew McCaren, 45, was taken in Wet Sleddale Dam, Shap, Cumbria

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A stunning electric purple thunderbolt, captured by Grace Bailey in Texas

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A frosty bison by Laura Heiden, taken in Yellowstone, Wyoming

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The Public Vote winner was a picture showing a field of ice hummocks near Cape Kotelnikovsky in Russia, taken by Alexey Trofimov

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This spectacular shot of Mammatus clouds shining in a pink and purple hue was captured by Boris Jordan in Leipzig

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Picturesque winter sunset in Davor, Croatia

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An incredible tornado tearing through a rural Colorado field after destroying a home, captured by Tori Jane Ostberg

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Tina Wright captured this unbelievable electric pink and red dust storm in Arizona
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