[imagesource: Luo Xing]

Anyone can go chasing rainbows, mirages, cascading lightning, rainfall, waterfalls, sunsets, and sunrises.

But capturing these natural elements in all their drama, glory, and sublimity is another thing altogether.

The photographers shortlisted for the Weather Photographer of the Year 2022 competition have done a remarkable job, making our jaws drop while showcasing some of nature’s most creative moments.

CNN reported that this is the Royal Meteorological Society’s 7th edition of the contest, with images for the main and mobile categories coming from photographers in 119 countries:

“These photographs, whether taken on a DSLR or someone’s mobile, represented the shared global appreciation for the beauty of weather and the sheer creativity of this growing community,” said Jesse Ferrell, senior weather editor at AccuWeather, the weather forecasts provider that is sponsoring the contest, in a press release.

Last month, a judging panel of photography and meteorological experts chose the 22 shortlisted photographers.

Let’s dive right in. In this shot, Jamie Russell was chasing storms across the Isle of Wight, and reached Bembridge just as a double rainbow appeared:

Then we have this spectacular mock mirage sunset over the Thames Estuary captured by Brendan Conway:

Per The Telegraph, during a mock mirage sunset, the sun is distorted and appears to be sliced horizontally. This can occur when there are one or more shallow layers in the atmosphere with a temperature difference between each layer.

Brendan said that “a bonus mirage caused buildings in Southend to appear to levitate” – just wow.

After days of heavy rain in the UK, water began cascading down the dam wall of Wet Sleddale reservoir near the village of Shap in Cumbria and Andrew McCaren captured it perfectly:

Carlos Castillejo Balsera arrived early morning to watch a big storm form over Barcelona, Spain:

Also in Barcelona, on the cliff of Tavertet with the sun low behind and the valley of Sau covered with fog, Emili Vilamala Benito waited until a Brocken Spectre appeared:

Krzysztof Tollas captured a pretty pink sunrise over the frosty Gwda River in Poland:

The image right up the top of the page comes via by Luo Xing, who captured lightning strikes over Chongqing in China in the early hours of the night.

Cape Town had its own lightning action last night, which some of you might have mistaken for a faulty lightbulb unless you stepped outside to see this, captured by yours truly:

That last one is not a part of the competition, to be clear, but I am too proud and in awe not to share it here.

Anyway, the public can vote for their favourite finalist on the Royal Meteorological Society website, with votes closing on September 21.

The winners, runner-ups, and  results of the public vote will be revealed on October 6.

[source:cnn]