The most dramatic weather photos of 2017
NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP/Getty Images
Dramatic weather caught on camera
From heatwaves and showers to storms and hurricanes, this year has seen plenty of unexpected and extraordinary weather. We take a pictorial look back at the most dramatic weather events of this year so far.
Double rainbow, New York, USA
A double rainbow appears over Manhattan after heavy rain on June 19.
ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
Bush fire in California, USA
The La Tuna Canyon bush fire, ignited by heatwave temperatures coupled with high winds, burns in the hills above Burbank, California on September 2.
Storm Doris, England
Waves crashing against the Newhaven Lighthouse in East Sussex, England during Storm Doris in February.
Snowstorm in Romania
A snowstorm captured in the Romanian capital of Bucharest in early 2017.
Shantelle Robinson/Picfair
Showers over the North Sea, England
Phenomenal cloudscapes with showers and rainbows over the North Sea coastline of Clacton-on-Sea, England in June.
Winniepix/Flickr/CC BY 2.0
Brooding storms, Italy
Storm clouds gather over Lake Maggiore in northern Italy on August 8.
Fog in London, England
The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in London shrouded in thick freezing fog as it descends across the UK on January 23.
Jeff Wallace/Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0
Supercell in Alberta, Canada
A supercell storm (a thunderstorm with a rotating updraft) over Alberta, Canada on July 2.
Heavy snow in China
People walk in the snow in Altay, China after heavy snowstorms unexpectedly hit the northern regions of Xinjiang, China on May 2.
Snow in Scotland
Ice and snow cover pine trees in Isle of Skye, Scotland in early 2017.
JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images
Northern Lights, Norway
Aurora borealis, better known as the Northern Lights, illuminates the sky over Reinfjorden in Reine, Norway on September 8.
Steve Parsons/PA Wire/PA Images
Lightning in Portsmouth, England
Lightning flashes behind the Spinnaker Tower in Porstmouth, England as thunderstorms swept across the UK on July 19.
Xinhua/SIPA USA/PA Images
Ice blocks in Budapest, Hungary
Ice blocks float under the Liberty Bridge on the Danube River in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, after an extremely cold weather in January.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Flickr/CC BY 2.0
Hurricane Harvey, USA
NASA captures Hurricane Harvey in the Gulf of Mexico on the morning of August 24. Harvey was the most damaging hurricane to hit the US since Wilma in 2005. An estimated 13 million people have been directly affected by the storm in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky.
Hurricane Harvey, USA
Photographed from the International Space Station on August 25, Hurricane Harvey makes its way towards the coast of Texas.
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
Hurricane Irma, USA
Heavy winds and rain batter Miami, Florida as Hurricane Irma's eyewall slams into the lower Florida Keys on September 10.
Hurricane Irma, USA
A man leans into the wind as Hurricane Irma approaches Miami Beach, Florida on September 9.
Gerben Van Es/Dutch Ministry of/Zuma Press/PA Images
Hurricane Irma in St Maarten
Storm surge and waves lash a resort in Philipsburg on September 6, after Hurricane Irma caused widespread damage on the Dutch Island of St. Maarten.
Wildfire, Oklahoma and Kansas, USA
Large fires scorched nearly 800,000 acres in Oklahoma and Kansas in March. The largest of the four fires, named the Starbuck fire, destroyed 26 homes and killed numerous livestock.
Floods in Lima, Peru
In March, deadly and destructive floods occurred in Peru. The floods happened without an official El Nino, usually a key contributor of flooding in the country.
Charles Hb Mercer/Shutterstock
Drought in Cape Town, South Africa
The Theeswaterskloof Dam (pictured), in Cape Town, South Africa is running dry after the city suffered its worst drought in decades.
Dust storm in Beijing, China
Buildings are blanked by a heavy sandstorm that hit the Chinese capital. The air quality reached a hazardous level.
Flash floods in Mandra, Greece
Residents watch as streams of muddy water fill the roads in flash floods caused by heavy rain in Greece.
Vladimir Korostyshevskiy/Shutterstock
Forest fires in Coimbra, Portugal
Forest fires swept through Coimbra, Portugal in June. There were over 60 fires which were started due to a heatwave and dry lightning strike in the area.
William Perugini/Shutterstock
Storm Ophelia in London, England
London was cloaked in a strange orange glow after Storm Ophelia pulled in tropical air, dust and debris from southern Europe and Africa.
Solar Eclipse in Oregon, USA
The solar eclipse at the Painted Hills, Oregon. This was the first eclipse that was visible across the entire United States since 1918. Oregon was one of the best places to view it, as it was directly in the path.
MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images
Hail in Yemen
A Yemeni boy holds a handful of snow pellets after hail and heavy rain battered the Yemeni capital Sanaa on August 11.
Storms in Cannibal Bay, South Otago, New Zealand
A rainbow appears after a stormy weekend in Cannibal Bay, South Otago on New Zealand's South Island.
Elbow River, Canada
The beautiful pink sky above Elbow River, Canada is a result of warm, dry winds blowing down the east side of the Rocky Mountains. This type of winds is commonly known as a Chinook.
NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP/Getty Images
Lightning in Bordeaux, France
Lightning strikes above La Cite du Vin museum in Bordeaux during a thunderstorm on July 18.