Stunning pictures of lightning, floods and a snow-covered Yak

We all love to talk about it in the Britain, but these pictures show that the weather holds a fascination around the globe.

From forks of lightning in Poland and New Mexico to flooded fields in Portugal, a snow-covered yak in Nepal and a monsoon in Bangladesh, these pictures all made the final cut in the Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers' Weather competition.

Winner was Andrzej Bochenski from Poland for his dramatic lightning shot on Puck Bay on the Baltic Sea.

The winner of the Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers' Weather competition was Andrzej Bochenski from Poland for his dramatic lightning shot on Puck Bay on the Baltic Sea

Another lightning shot bagged second place for Craig Bill, 44, from Texas.Craig said of the picture, taken in Jal, New Mexico: 'The shot I call Thunder Heart came as a blinding flash so bright and powerful, I never saw it directly'

Third place was awarded to Filipa Scarpa from Portugal with her picture of looming storm clouds

Mr Bochenski said: 'It was terrible storm with a lot of thunder but without rain.

'I used a tripod, on a 30 seconds exposure to get this one.'

Another lightning shot bagged second place for Craig Bill, 44, from Texas.

Craig said of the picture, taken in Jal, New Mexico: 'The shot I call Thunder Heart came as a blinding flash so bright and powerful, I never saw it directly.

'This low hanging cloud was threatening me with random powerful bolts.

The scene from the base of Mount Everest in Nepal was captured by 40-year-old Australian Jason Freeman. He said: 'The shot was taken close to a tiny settlement called Gorak Shep 5,300m above sea level. This is the last vestige of civilisation before Everest Base Camp and a popular stop for trekkers'

Jerry Boyden caught this sunset whilst waiting for his wife in Clearwater, Florida. He said: 'I was trying to get a few sunset photos in before I had to pick my wife up from work. This was the last photo I got to take before I had to run'

'I hooked up a control device that trips the shutter when a bright flash hits, but you have to be able to anticipate where the next bolt is coming from and have the camera ready.'

In third was Filipa Scarpa from Portugal with her picture of looming storm clouds.

Filipa, 54, from Lisbon, said: 'The picture was taken in Sintra, in Lisbon, as the Hercules storm rolled in.'

And a picture of a house standing in a flooded field after the storm also got her a highly commended place.

She said: 'This was taken in Santarem, where there was then a huge flood as a consequence of the Hercules storm. As a result, many houses became isolated because of water flooding from the Tagus river.'

Photographer Greg Kacin, 35, a musician, said of his highly commended image: 'The church is called Saint Thomas, Sveti Tomaž, and it stands in small village near town of Žiri.'It's a peaceful place and I go there a lot. I took this picture in January on the first day of winter snow'

Retired Ron, 63, said of the highly commended image: 'This shot of Big Ben from Westminster bridge was taken during one of two days that we had snow in January last year.'

Craig Bill was also highly commended for another lightning picture also taken in Jal, New Mexico.

He said: 'This storm was not all that big, but it made up for it in intense electrical energy and light that was just incredible.

'This image comprises of five different lightning bursts layered over each other.

'After about an hour, the storm lost its gusto and disintegrated while others in the distance gained strength.'

The UK was not left out, with this atmospheric picture of London landmark Big Ben in a snow storm by Ron Tear, from Loughton in Essex.

Retired Ron, 63, said of the highly commended image: 'This shot of Big Ben from Westminster bridge was taken during one of two days that we had snow in January last year.'

Craig Bill was also highly commended for another lightning picture also taken in Jal, New Mexico.He said: 'This storm was not all that big, but it made up for it in intense electrical energy and light that was just incredible'

Highly Commended Philip Bird, from East Grinstead in West Sussex photographed a Grand Teton mountain range in Wyoming when a snowstorm came over

This photo was highly commended in the competition and taken by Nadi Nitul in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh

And snow was the theme for another highly commended picture as a yak gets a dusting as it waits between jobs.

The scene from the base of Mount Everest in Nepal was captured by 40 year old Australian Jason Freeman.

He said: 'The shot was taken close to a tiny settlement called Gorak Shep 5,300m above sea level. This is the last vestige of civilisation before Everest Base Camp and a popular stop for trekkers.

'As the climbing season was just beginning, the yak had a rare 'day off' and was waiting for the next pack-carrying job to arrive.

'I was able to get to within two metres for this shot with before the yak snorted and became defensive. I took that as my cue to head home and left him to his blanket of spring snow.'

Also getting a coating of snow was this church nestled between two trees at the top of a hill in Slovenia.

Photographer Greg Kacin, 35, a musician, said of his highly commended image: 'The church is called Saint Thomas, Sveti Tomaž, and it stands in small village near town of Žiri.

'It's a peaceful place and I go there a lot. I took this picture in January on the first day of winter snow.'

Philip Bird, from East Grinstead in West Sussex was highly commended for his amazing shot of a snowstorm coming in that he took in America.

Philip, 64, a retired bank manager, said: 'I was taking some landscape shots at the base of the Grand Teton mountain range in Wyoming when a snowstorm came over the crest of the mountains and poured down to the plain where I was standing. A few minutes later I couldn't see a thing.'

Leaving the cold behind are the last two pictures that were both highly commended.

Jerry Boyden caught this sunset whilst waiting for his wife in Clearwater, Florida.

He said: 'I was trying to get a few sunset photos in before I had to pick my wife up from work. This was the last photo I got to take before I had to run.'

And lastly Nadi Nitul's picture taken at the height of the monsoon shows a street in her native Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh got her a highly commended. 

Photographer scores a cat-trick!

It's long been said that curiosity kills the cat.

But one inquisitive Swiss photographer has brought a selection of adorable felines to life - by morphing them into their doting owners. 

This amazing series of photographs produced by Sebastian Magnani splices the head and shoulders of 15 different owners with the portrait of their favourite moggy. 

Purr-fect unison! Photographer Sebastian Magnani has blended together photos of cats and their owners. This incredible image, left, shows cat Blue merged with his owner, Miriam, who is pictured right

In a series called 'Undercats', the Swiss photographer merged 15 owners with their favourite felines. In this combination, cat Salem is merged with his owner Mariette - both donning the same helmet

The 28-year-old used expert photo-manipulation techniques to seamlessly transplant the feline faces onto the human bodies. Here, cat Figaro is spliced with young cap-wearing owner Elia, who is pictured right 

Using his friends, family and strangers, the 28-year-old - who says he is fascinated with cats' eyes - cleverly photographed owners and their respective pets in the same portrait style.

He then used expert photo-manipulation techniques on the computer to seamlessly transplant the feline faces onto the human bodies.

Highlights of the series, which is called Undercats, include a lady called Daniela's hair blending perfectly with the face of her ginger cat Micky while, in another picture, owner Mariette and her cat Salem don the same crash helmet.

There's even a photo of the photographer's father Ermano, with the face of his cat Jaguar, wearing a headset. 

Undercats follows Sebastian's internationally-renowned - and similarly-themed - Underdogs set. Here, he has blended cat Paraya, left with owner Christoph, pictured right 

Headphone wearing Ermano, pictured right, who is the father of the photographer, is merged with his cat Jaguar.  For this project, the photographer travelled for a week around Switzerland visiting the owner's home to photograph them and their cats

A jewellery-wearing Pepi is morphed with his owner Natalie. The photographer used family, friends, strangers who answered his Facebook post and people who contacted him directly via email for the project

The series follows Sebastian's internationally-renowned collection Underdogs, which, in a similar vein, saw the faces of dogs superimposed onto their owner's. 

For this project, the young photographer travelled for a week around Switzerland visiting the owner's home to capture the images. 

He said: 'One is my father Ermano. Some are friends of mine. Some answered me on my Facebook post. Some contacted me directly per email.'

Sebastian says splicing of the humans and pets took about three weeks of his free time, with 6-8 hours spent on each image. In this set of images, cat Uschi is spliced with owner Jan 

The photographer started the project because he said he is fascinated with the eyes of cats. Here, cat Mogli is blended perfectly with owner Josianne

Sebastian said: 'It is in the eye of the beholder whether cats look like their owners like people say dogs do. But for me the eyes so strong and characterful'. Here, cat Juna is blended with owner Christian 

The photographer said he knew he wanted to experiment with cats after doing his dog series. Here, cat Hector is mixed with long-haired owner Joana

The photographer says splicing of the humans and pets took about three weeks of his free time, with each image taking between six and eight hours to perfect.

Sebastian said: 'When I'd made the first part of my Underdogs, for me it was clear, I wanted to create the same with cats. And I was really looking forward to see more combinations. I am also so fascinated by the eyes of cats.

'Unlike dogs, cats all the same head form, so there is not so much difference between each other. It is in the eye of the beholder whether cats look like their owners like people say dogs do. But for me the eyes so strong and characterful.

'I think the title Undercats is not the same as Underdogs, it has a softer meaning and that's the reason why I've chosen the title.'

This image, left, combines cat Muah with owner Helen. The photographer replaced the head and shoulders of the owner with that of their pet 

The blonde hair of Daniela, pictured right, blends perfectly with the face of her ginger cat, Micky, pictured left  

Antonia, pictured right, is merged with his cat Chino in this image, left. Both images show the person wearing a scarf and a matched expression of solemness 

Cat Tito is spliced with owner Caroline in this image, pictured left. Sebastian says cats all the same head form, so there is not so much difference between each one

Kathrin, pictured right, is shown spliced with her cat Shiva.

The bigger they are the harder they fall

• Pair of lions tracked elderly giraffe all night trying to kill it
• Prey, which was blind in one eye, kept running to try and escape
• Once it realised escape was impossible it turned to face its hunters
• Exhausted giant was no match for young lions, who brought it down

These dramatic photographs show the moment two young lions managed to bring down a fully grown giraffe.
After being hunted through the night by a hungry lion pride, the exhausted giraffe realises escape is futile and turns to face his adversaries in one last stand for survival.
But despite being weary from the chase, as well as being blind in one eye, the old timer is determined not to go down without a fight and tries desperately to scare the daring duo away.

This is the moment two lions took down a giraffe in Etosha National Park, Nambia, after tracking it all night

Despite being exhausted from the pursuit and blind in one eye, the giraffe was able to keep the lions back

Spotted at Etosha National Park, Namibia in South West Africa, the plucky pair are then seen carefully circling the towering beast, keen to avoid a potential lethal kick.
Taken by South African photographer, Morkel Erasmus, 31, the experienced bushman noticed battle scars on the hide of the giraffe, suggesting this wasn't its first deadly encounter with lions.
However, this time it wasn't so lucky and the hours spent on the run had weakened the gentle giant.
The ferocious lions attacked the giraffe's hind legs finally got the better of the giraffe as it fell to the ground.
Morkel said: "The lions had made turns in running the giraffe down all night long, and he had survived this far but this was the last stand, his Gettysburg.

Even an elderly giraffe has legs strong enough to deliver a fatal kick, so the lions were cautious while attacking

But one of the lions managed to get hold of the animal's back leg, weighing it down for the other to attack

'Nevertheless, tired and old as he was, he wasn't going to merely lay down and let his assailants overcome him.
'Giraffes have immense hooves and muscular, long, powerful legs with which to fling those hooves at would-be assailants with enough force to deal out a lethal blow.
'This old guy was unfortunately just too tired to kick with this kind of ferocity, he did lash out a few kicks and swing around to meet his attackers a few times, but his kicks showed his fatigue.
'And then one of the young male lions found a grab hold onto the buttocks of the giraffe, on his blind side.
'With his right leg bogged down, the giraffe could only do so much, his spirit was brave, but his body was weak, the inevitable happened and a second leg was grabbed.

Photographer Morkel Erasmus, 31, said: 'With his right leg bogged down, the giraffe could only do so much. The inevitable happened and a second leg was grabbed'

Once the two hunters had brought the giant down to the ground, it didn't have the strength to get up

'Given the level of fatigue the old giraffe had displayed, I wasn't surprised that he could not shake the lion from his leg but he tried valiantly to keep the second attacker at bay.
'And then, a mere 30 seconds after the first lion got a proper grip, he tumbled to the ground, a fallen giant, a defeated warrior, a vanquished fortress.
'It's a strange duality of the life of a wildlife photographer, finding joy and adrenaline at the chance of photographing these things, but also finding sadness and empathy with the victim.'

Having tracked the giraffe all night, the lions moved in to feast as soon as the beast was on the ground

Footballers' cars

• Ronaldo drives a 700 brake horsepower Lambourghini Aventador
• La Liga rival Lionel Messi sits pretty in a £107,000 Maserati GranTurismo 
• Wayne Rooney went British with an Aston Martin Vanquish
• One petrolhead player even has a £4million car collection

The World Cup is approaching and excitement is building at 100 mph, but that's nothing compared to the top speed of these stars' motors.
Whether going for the class of a Maybach, or the speed of a Ferrari, these stars have the money and fuel to burn. One footballing petrolhead even has a £4million colleciton. Check out the expensive engines below.

 

Cristiano Ronaldo – Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4
Officially recognised as the best player in the world, Ronaldo’s car exudes the same type of panache the Real Madrid man does with the ball. The Lamborghini Aventador is not a shy car with a lofty 700 brake horsepower (BHP) to help the vehicle reach a top speed of 217mph.
The Ballon d’Or winner’s car comes in a stealthy matte black to add that extra touch of understated style. However all this flash will set you back a hefty £267,000.

Power: Cristiano Ronaldo won the Balon d'Or for his performances for Real Madrid and Portugal

Top speed: Ronaldo taking a drive with his son in a Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4

Lionel Messi – Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale
A car befitting of a player held in the same regard as the greatest of all time. When needing to get from A to B, Messi uses a his Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale.
His vehicle comes in a clean looking white, reaches a top speed of 188mph and costs upwards of £107,000. Certainly a worthy drive for the only man who can stand toe-to-toe with Ronaldo in world football.

Magician: Lionel Messi will be hoping for a superb World Cup having scored just once in the competition

Best for the best: Argentina star Lionel Messi parks his Maserati in Barcelona

Wayne Rooney – Aston Martin Vanquish
For the talismanic Englishman it is fitting to choose a car that is British. The Aston Martin Vanquish is a car which expresses the same class on the road that Rooney does on the field.
It set Rooney back £166,000, but with a top speed of 183mph and a booming engine of 565 BHP it is most certainly a car for a superstar.

British man: Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney's choice of car is quintessentially British

Wazza: Wayne Rooney arrived to training with Manchester United in his Aston Martin Vanquish

Samuel Eto’o – Maybach 57 S Xanatec Coupe
At one time Eto’o was the highest paid player in the world. He is said to have a fleet of cars costing an astonishing £3.98million. Of his collection the car that stands out is his Maybach Xanantec Coupe. It costs £600,000 and has a huge presence on the road, similar to that of the Cameroonian captain’s on the pitch.
He has also been seen driving around the streets of Knightbridge in his Aston Martin One-77.

Outstanding: Samuel Eto'o's huge Maybach Xanantec Coupe costs £600,000

Flash: Samuel Eto'o poses with his two Maybachs, and has a collection worth around £4million

Mario Balotelli - Ferrari F12
Super Mario is not known for being sky, and this Ferrari 12 is a perfect match to the Italian's fiery personality. In Milan red, the former Man City star has made a change from his Bentley Continental Supersports in camouflage, which he used to roam the streets of Manchester during his time in England.
Here he is, giving it a good hose down. Boys and their toys at the highest level.

Gunned: Italy striker Mario Balotelli sprays his Ferrari F12 down at the car wash

Classic: Former Man City star Balotelli shops in Italy with his car, in fiery Milan red

Star man: Balotelli will perform on football's centre stage with Italy in Brazil

Neymar – Audi R8 GT
The man with the weight of a nation on his shoulders and the face of the Brazil World Cup. The talented forward chooses to cruise the roads in the Audi R8 GT. Costing nearly £148,000, it reaches top speeds of nearly 200mph.
Neymar has decided to keep the design simple and sleek in a bright white paint job and a classical red leather upholstery interior. 

The man: Neymar is expected to be Brazil's star at the World Cup on home soil this summer

Samba style: World Cup poster boy Neymar drives this Audi R8, worth nearly £150,000

 

PS... One man who can take comfort in his motor
Ribery – Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder
Ribery, referred to as ‘the jewel of French football’ by the legendary Zinedine Zidane, will miss out on being the focal point of France’s bid for World Cup glory after picking up an injury.
But Ribery can take comfort on the road with his Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder. Able to reach 201mph and costing £133,000, his ride comes in an eye catching bright green so he is never out of the spotlight.

Unfortunate: Ribery is unlucky to miss out on France's World Cup campaign with an injury

Motor: Franck Ribery will miss the World Cup, but has this Lamborghini Gallardo to comfort him