The breathtaking winning images of the photography competition dedicated to meteorological phenomena

They were announced winners of the Calendar Competition 2025 announced by the WMOWorld Meteorological Organization.

The photography competition focused on meteorological phenomena attracted many participants from all over the world, but only 75 passed the jury’s selection, to then be published on social media and judged again by the public. 14 photographs also passed this second selection, earning the victory, but there were also 12 honorable mentions.

Each shot portrays a different meteorological phenomenon, from lightning to rain, from the Northern Lights to the nocturnal rainbow.

Let’s take a closer look at the winners of this edition starting from “It´s raining colors” by Kairo Kiitsak from Estonia, who took this photograph in May 2024 during the Northern Lights in the skies of the county of Lääne-Viru.

Equally amazing is the shot by Bruno Fantulin who immortalized a nocturnal rainbow and a cumulonimbus emitting lightning in Hvar, Croatia.

The photograph “Snow monsters – will they become history?” is evocative and mysterious. by the Polish Piotr Olszewski, taken on the famous “Giant Mountains” also called “Karkonosze”. Snow-covered trees really look like monstrous creatures.

Even more disturbing is “Monster Tornado” by Adam Orgler, who portrayed a dangerous tornado near Harlan, Iowa.

Edward Mitchell took this impressive photograph entitled “100 strikes” during a monsoon storm.

“Apocalypse” by Russian Andrei Nikitin was taken in Estonia and depicts the Northern Lights during a night-time thunderstorm.

“Winter in Danyang Bobaljae Pass” by Korean Sang Woon Lee portrays the pass Danyang Bobaljae, located 540m above sea level, famous for its curved road lined with trees. In this shot the drone immortalized the pass in the middle of the freezing winter.

Among the winners there is also the Italian Giulia Bonetti with “The Eye of the Universe”, a photograph taken in Cuba.

If you want to discover the other winners we suggest you take a look at the official website. What is the meteorological phenomenon that won you over?

SOURCE: WMO