A striking shot of shards of ice on a bitterly cold morning in Glencoe has scooped the top prize in this year’s Landscape Photographer of the Year Award.

Pete Rowbottom, from Wigan, Lancashire, beat thousands of entries to win the £10,000 top prize in the 12th year of the competition for his “emotionally strong” image of icy water in front of the mountain Buachaille Etive Mor.

He took the winning shot in the Scottish Highlands on a freezing morning in February.

Blizzard in the High Peak, Derbyshire, England, by John Finney, was one of the category winners (John Finney/Landscape Photographer of the Year/PA)
Blizzard in the High Peak, Derbyshire, England, by John Finney, was one of the category winners (John Finney/Landscape Photographer of the Year/PA)

A blizzard on Derbyshire’s High Peak and a dramatic black and white shot of a fisherman on the rocks at Porth Nanven, Cornwall,  were among the category winners in the competition.

An aerial view of terraced houses in Bristol and a delicate close-up of holly leaves in Edinburgh also topped their category.

Fisherman on rocks in strong westerly winds, Porth Nanven, Cornwall, was a category winner for Mick Blakey (Mick Blakey/Landscape Photographer of the Year/PA)
Fisherman on rocks in strong westerly winds, Porth Nanven, Cornwall, was a category winner for Mick Blakey (Mick Blakey/Landscape Photographer of the Year/PA)

Awards founder and landscape photographer Charlie Waite said: “The numerous strong diagonal lines of the ice fractures in Pete’s image echo the shape of Buachaille Etive Mor in the background and have peaks of their own.

“You can’t take your eyes away from the relationship between the mountain and the ice; it is visually very strong and has a mathematical precision.

“The cold of the mountain and ice together contrast well with the amber of their surroundings.

“This is an image where you can hear and feel the landscape, as well as see it, so it is emotionally strong and involves the viewer on multiple levels.”

Josef FitzGerald-Patrick won the Young Landscape Photographer of the Year prize for this image at Land's End, Cornwall (Josef FitzGerald-Patrick/Landscape Photographer of the Year/PA)
Josef FitzGerald-Patrick won the Young Landscape Photographer of the Year prize for this image at Land’s End, Cornwall (Josef FitzGerald-Patrick/Landscape Photographer of the Year/PA)

Josef FitzGerald-Patrick, 17, from near Land’s End, Cornwall, won the Young Landscape Photographer of the Year title for his picture of a mountain biker in action on the coast.

His shots of the  dramatic coast around Land’s End and Porthgwarra also helped him to win two of the four categories for young photographers in addition to scooping the main prize.

Alan Courtney won the Network Rail Lines in the Landscape Award
Alan Courtney won the Network Rail Lines in the Landscape Award for his image of Sunset over Holes Bay, Dorset, England (Alan Courtney/Landscape Photographer of the Year/PA)

Special awards were won by shots of a storm wave, atmospheric woodlands in the morning, an ethereal image of Daymark beacon in Devon and heather blooming above Buttermere in the Lake District.

And the Network Rail Lines in the Landscape award was won by Alan Courtney from Wimborne, Dorset, for his sunset shot of a train speeding across Holes Bay in the county.

– A free exhibition of winning entries will be held on the Balcony at London Waterloo station from Monday November 19 for 12 weeks before going on tour to selected stations nationwide.