The year’s best photos of the world’s rarest weather phenomena

Climate change has created a new niche in photography. The Royal Photographic Society and Royal Meteorological Society in the UK announced the very first Weather Photographer of the Year awards on Sept. 10, and released dramatic images of rare weather phenomena.

In over 800 submissions of supercell thunderstorms, Arctic diamond dust, and polar stratospheric clouds, the jury of photographers, editors, and a BBC weatherman has picked out the best to show us the serene beauty and  power of mother earth.