In Pictures: Outdoor Photographer of the Year 2018

Judges whittle down more than 20,000 images to select overall winner

An otter swimming off the Shetland Isles in Scotland, a kestrel in the Spanish city of Valencia, a wave in Rangiroa, French Polynesia were among the winners of the Outdoor Photographer of the Year 2018 competition.

Now in its eighth year, photographers from around the world submitted more than 20,000 pictures, which the judges eventually whittled down to select winners across nine categories and one overall winner - a picture of sheep in a snowdrift in Yorkshire's Hebden Bridge.

Here The Independent has collated the winning photographs and those selected for praise.