A dirty thunderstorm occurs over Mount Sakurajima as the volcano erupts violently at 12:03 am on July 26, 2016 in Tarumizu, Kagoshima, Japan. The eruption occurred at the mountain's Showa crater. This is the first time that the active volcano in southern Kyushu has spewed out a smokestack that high since an eruption on August 18, 2013, according to the Kagoshima Meteorological Office. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)

Puppies, pugs and the perfect antidote to political pandemonium, it’s the Kennel Club’s dog photographer of the year competition. Here: Jamie Morgan’s two Afghan hounds won first place in the portrait category. (Photo by Jamie Morgan/PA Wire)

Some of the best entries so far in the 2016 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. There are two weeks left to enter, and the winners will be announced in September. Here: Aurora over Laksvatn Fjord, Laksvatn, Norway. The aurora borealis dances in the skies over the town of Laksvatn, with the Milky Way to the left. The image is a single shot with no compositing, only post-processing to bring out the aurora, and some colour corrections. The photographer Matt Walford said: “I love the way the northern lights look like they are just wistfully dancing over the fjord, framed by the mountains on either side”. (Photo by Matt Walford/National Maritime Museum)

Workers attach 288 new Waterford Crystal Triangles on the 2012 Times Square New Year's Eve Ball at One Times Square on December 27, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

Spectators pass through security screening ahead of the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square in New York, on Sunday, December 31, 2017. (Photo by Peter Morgan/AP Photo)

Koreans spin fire cans during “Jwibulnoli” a South Korean folk game at Han River on February 5, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. The event is part of a “Daeboreum”, a Korean holiday that celebrates the first full moon of the lunar new year. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

A Chimpanzee opens its Christmas presents at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo on December 17, 2013 in Bedfordshire, England. (Photo by Tony Margiocchi/Barcroft Media)

A woman reacts as she joins around a thousand New Year swimmers, many in costume, braved freezing conditions in the River Forth in front of the Forth Rail Bridge during the annual Loony Dook Swim on January 1, 2013 in South Queensferry, Scotland. Thousands of people gathered last night to see in the New Year at Hogmanay celebrations in towns and cities across Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell)