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)

A giraffe appears almost to be doing the splits as it bends to drink at a watering hole on a reserve in Mkuze, South Africa in September 2023. (Photo by Peter Batty/Solent News)

Hot-air balloons glide over the historical Cappadocia region with Turkish flags to mark August 30 Turkiye's Victory Day in Nevsehir, Turkiye on August 30, 2023. (Photo by Behcet Alkan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Visitors watch ice-cold artworks, depicting Marilyn Monroe, at an ice and snow sculpture exhibition made by 35 international artists, who worked 4 months at minus eight degrees Celsius in Oberhausen, Germany, on the 1st of Advent, Sunday, December 1, 2024. (Photo by Martin Meissner/AP Photo)

The aerial photo taken on November 20, 2024 shows a general view of buildings during a foggy day in Yinchuan, in northern China's Ningxia region. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)

An athlete takes part in a warm-up around the track of the National Stadium in Tokyo on September 12, 2025, ahead of the World Athletics Championships. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP Photo)

A monkey licks ice during the annual “monkey buffet” in Lopburi province, some 150 kms north of Bangkok on November 24, 2013. More than 2,000 kilos of fruits and vegetables were offered to the monkeys during the annual festival to help promote tourism in the area. (Photo by Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP Photo)

A general view of Hong Kong's business district is seen Thursday, August 1, 2013. (Photo by Vincent Yu/AP Photo)