Jack Dykinga / Saguaro cacti (Carnegia gigantea) at sunset, during a summer rain storm. Saguaro National Park, Sonoran Desert, Arizona, USA, August. Digital composite.

SCOTLAND: The Big Picture / Mountains of Assynt and Loch Sionasgaig in the rain, Sutherland, Scotland, UK. November.

Chien Lee / Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) male in cloud forest, Mashpi Amagusa Reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador

Ingo Arndt / View from Margaret Knoll lookout of sunset and rain clouds over the Indian Ocean and the east coast of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, Australian Territory, December 2009.

Pete Oxford / Cloud forest canopy, Andes, Ecuador

Gerrit Vyn / Rain showers over sagebrush-steppe at the foot of the Sawtooth Mountains. Clark County, Idaho, USA, June.

Denis-Huot / Group of male African lions (Panthera leo) resting with storm clouds overhead, Masai-Mara Game Reserve, Kenya. September.

James Christensen / Equatorial Mussurana (Clelia equatoriana) snake in rainforest, Septimo Paraiso Cloud Forest Reserve, Mindo, Ecuador

Hougaard Malan / Rainstorm over desert plain, Namib Rand, Namibia. February 2011.

Ernie Janes,Ernie Janes / RSPB Nature reserve at Titchwell Marsh Norfolk, May

David Noton / Rain clouds hanging over the Col de Bavella, Bavella Mountains, Corsica, France. June 2011.

Sven Zacek / Waves washing up a beach under dark clouds. Hiiumaa Island, Estonia, Europe, August 2011.