An incredible view of daytime lightning on Saturn during one of the biggest storms the ringed planet has ever seen has been captured by a NASA spacecraft.

Photo: The huge storm which generated the lightning strike on Saturn can be seen in the top right of this image. (Photo by NASA)

These incredible pictures look like a bird's-eye view of a faraway alien planet – but they're actually hot springs. The amazing snaps are up-close shots of Iceland's hot springs, and the point-blank pictures produce a breathtaking array of colors and effects. Here: The amazing snaps are up-close shots of Icelandic hot springs. (Photo by Johann Vilhjalmsson/Caters News)

“After an afternoon of hiking and exploring the caves of Rhossili Bay, West Glamorgan, we caught the sun breaking through the clouds”. (Photo by Megan Warren-Davis/The Guardian)

Cotswold gamekeeper shoots amazing pictures of British wildlife – without the aid of long lenses and elaborate techniques. The photos may look like they have been shot from miles away – but amazingly Adam Tatlow is actually just feet away from his wild subjects. Photo: Young fawn shelters in the wood. He is so at one with nature that he knows how to call animals to him, and often gets within 30ft of them. (Photo by Adam Tatlow/BNPS)

Women wearing kimonos gather after attending a Coming of Age ceremony on January 8, 2018 in Yokohama, Japan. Coming of Age Day is a Japanese holiday held every January to celebrate people who have reached 20 – the official age of adulthood in Japan. Yokohama city, with almost 37,000 people turning 20 this year, is holding one of the largest events in the country. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Tony North; First place, Breathing Spaces; Overall Winner; Blue Tajinaste, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. “Echium thyrsiflorum is endemic to the mountains of La Palma island – from high up, there was a magnificent view of both the caldera below, and the stars above. The Unesco La Palma biosphere reserve encompasses the entire island, with the Caldera de Taburiente containing mountains with a highest peak of 2,426 metres – the Roque de los Muchachos”. (Photo by Tony North/IGPOTY)

Commended. In late May, about a quarter of a million snow geese arrive from North America to nest on Wrangel Island, in northeastern Russia. They form the world's largest breeding colony of snow geese. Photographer Sergey Gorshkov spent two months on the remote island photographing the unfolding dramas. Arctic foxes take advantage of the abundance of eggs, caching surplus eggs for leaner times. But a goose (here the gander) is easily a match for a fox, which must rely on speed and guile to steal eggs. “The battles were fairly equal”, notes Sergey, “and I only saw a fox succeed in grabbing an egg on a couple of occasions, despite many attempts”. Surprisingly, “the geese lacked any sense of community spirit”, he adds, “and never reacted when a fox harassed a neighboring pair nesting close by”. (Photo by Sergey Gorshkov/Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer)

Winner, photojournalism. Elephant in the room, by Adam Oswell, Australia Zoo. Visitors watch a young elephant performing underwater. Oswell was disturbed by this scene, and organisations concerned with the welfare of captive elephants say performances like this encourage unnatural behaviour. In Thailand, there are now more elephants in captivity than in the wild. With the Covid pandemic causing tourism to collapse, elephant sanctuaries are becoming overwhelmed with animals that can no longer be looked after by their owners. (Photo by Adam Oswell/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021)