It’s easy to forget, amid the storm of human conflict, how tiny we are against the forces of nature.
But a new set of images – shortlisted for the prestigious Weather Photographer of the Year competition – provides an awe-inspiring reminder.
The Royal Meteorological Society and The Royal Photographic Society have announced the shortlist for the 2017 contest, only the second since its inception.
Around 2,000 photographs were submitted from more than 60 countries worldwide, and the 48 shortlisted images will be toured across the UK.
Entries in two categories – 16 years and under, and 17 and older – range from weather phenomena such as clouds, lightning, rain, fog or snow through to the impact of weather on humans, cities and the natural landscape.
Commenting on the images, BBC weatherman and selector Matt Taylor said: ‘We were swept away by the blizzard of high quality photographs that the public sent in, and choosing the winners was a far more difficult task for us than we were expecting.
‘Continents were crossed and emotions were stirred by stunning images as diverse as towering cumulonimbus clouds to rolling mist. I can’t wait to see which image stirs the public in the same way.’