The Royal Meteorological Society has opened the public vote for its Weather Photographer of the Year 2026 competition, and you’ve got until 5 November to pick your favourite. This year’s shortlist features 30 images from photographers in 13 countries, covering everything from towering supercells to wildfire haze and glacial calving.

Weather Photographer of the Year has become one of the more distinctive competitions on the calendar, partly because the subject is something every photographer deals with, whether they like it or not. The shortlisted images show what happens when photographers head out to meet the weather rather than wait for it to clear.

Supercells, lightning and wildfire haze

Storm photography is well represented on this year’s shortlist. William Huxley Eades has two images in contention, Sunset Supercell and Close Enough, while Laura Hedien also has two, An Oklahoma Light Show and A Supercell in the Sandhills of Nebraska. Dan Martland’s Triple strike NYC captures lightning over New York City.

Elsewhere, Thomas Ruimou Yu’s Glacial Calving Surge shows the power of ice meeting water, and Brendan Chan’s Wildfire haze in New York City is a reminder that weather photography increasingly documents the effects of a changing climate as much as dramatic skies. Locations on the shortlist range from Oklahoma and Nebraska to Loch Linnhe in Scotland, Reine in Norway’s Lofoten Islands and Mount Shasta in California.

How to vote

To vote, head to the Weather Photographer of the Year 2026 shortlist gallery on the Royal Meteorological Society website. Click on an image to see it larger and read more about how it was taken, then cast your vote from that photo’s page.

If you’ve been out chasing storms or waiting for fog to roll in this autumn, the shortlist is worth a look for inspiration alone. Many of the strongest images come down to planning, patience and being in the right place when conditions come together.

Weather Photographer of the Year 2026 key dates

Where to see the shortlist

The full shortlist and voting are available on the Royal Meteorological Society website until voting closes on 5 November, with the winners announced on 17 November 2026.