Wintry scenes high Climate Photographer of the Yr competitors

Christopher Ison’s photograph of Storm Eunice and Zhenhuan Zhou’s shot of Niagara Falls coated in ice have taken the highest prizes within the Royal Meteorological Society’s annual competitors

By Liz Else

A STORM captured in full fury and one of many world’s most well-known waterfalls coated in ice have gained first and second prize respectively within the Royal Meteorological Society’s annual Climate Photographer of the Yr competitors.

Christopher Ison’s photograph Storm Eunice (pictured above) captures the second that the eponymous storm hit the port of Newhaven within the UK at excessive tide on 17 February. Eunice, one of many UK’s worst storms since 1987, noticed winds gust at as much as 196 kilometres per hour. It met the standards for a “weather bomb”, also called explosive cyclogenesis, prompted when air strain falls quickly.

Ison stated that when he realized the storm was liable for the primary ever pink warning for the south coast, he knew he “had to find a spot to record it – this was going to be big!”

Zhenhuan Zhou’s Frozen (pictured above) reveals elements of Niagara Falls coated in ice, a phenomenon brought on by mist and spray freezing excessive of the waterfall, although water continues to move beneath the ice.

Niagara Falls’ waters did cease as soon as, in March 1848, when robust winds pushed ice from Lake Erie into the supply of the Niagara river, blocking it utterly.

Zhou’s {photograph} captures the beautiful element of the icicles on a constructing and the rock face. They’re many metres lengthy and appear to be stalactites.

All 22 of the shortlisted images will be seen on the Royal Meteorological Society’s web site: rmets.org/pictures.