2012: The year in weather

27 December 2012

News image — This dazzling display of lightning was captured over the southern German city of Munich in September. (Copyright: Getty Images)

Getty Images This dazzling display of lightning was captured over the southern German city of Munich in September. (Copyright: Getty Images) — This dazzling display of lightning was captured over the southern German city of Munich in September. (Copyright: Getty Images)

Some of the year's best weather pics, including shots from the long US drought, freezing winter in Russia and Hurricane Sandy.

More amazing image galleries of the year:

A year in space

The year in technology

If you would like to comment on this slideshow or anything else you have seen on Future, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.

Weather

Earth

Natural disaster

This mushroom makes you see tiny humans

Only recently described by science, the mysterious mushrooms are found in different parts of the world, but they give people the same exact visions.

13 hrs ago

6 days ago

A stately home is seen through closed gates in a stone wall (Credit: Alamy)

An Elizabethan mansion's secrets for staying warm

In a deadly cold period known as the Little Ice Age, clever Elizabethan designs kept a magnificent stately home unusually warm – with lessons for how we can heat our own homes better.

6 days ago

The Ring Nebula in space showing the "red iron bar" in a line across the middle of it.

Mysterious 'iron bar' discovery in space may reveal Earth's future

Cardiff astronomers say they don't yet know where iron bar detected inside the Ring Nebula came from.

6 days ago

14 Jan 2026

A rare wildcat photographed by camera trap in the Doupov Mountains, Czech Republic (Credit: Vladimír Čech Jr)

Rare images of Europe's 'ghost cat'

Wildcats are so elusive, they were thought to be extinct in parts of Europe. But they are making a comeback in some areas.

14 Jan 2026

13 Jan 2026

The undersea mountains where sharks rule

Under the surface of the ocean, 100,000 towering mountains dot the Earth. Their violent currents are key to life.

13 Jan 2026

2012: The year in weather

The undersea mountains where sharks rule

Seven images that transformed our world view

Ten striking images of an Earth scarred by humans

Raja the elephant asking for a road toll

Inside the hidden world of rhino romance

A mother tiger on a fierce hunt to feed her cubs

How foxes outsmart world's heaviest raptor in quest for food

Mum saves baby seal with a clever trick

Mountain goats: A death-defying battle to mate

The near miraculous escape of a cave swift

Meet the mudskipper: The remarkable fish that lives on land

Watch the dramatic escape of tiny fish from deadly sharks

Earth tides: Why our planet's crust has tides too

Inside the world's largest hurricane simulator

In Australia, sea lions help researchers map the ocean floor

The deadly plants hiding in your garden

The scientists drilling into an active Icelandic volcano

Earth's spectacular and remote 'capital' of lightning

Why is the Seine only 'kind of clean'?

Listen to the secret coda of whales

This mushroom makes you see tiny humans

An Elizabethan mansion's secrets for staying warm

Mysterious 'iron bar' discovery in space may reveal Earth's future

Rare images of Europe's 'ghost cat'

The undersea mountains where sharks rule