Nuestra Señora de la Hoz monastery in the Duratón River gorge, Castile and León, Spain (© Arco Images GmbH/Alamy)

Cove of Spires in Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska, USA (© Sekar B/Shutterstock)

Christmas market in Braşov, Romania (© Alpineguide/Alamy)

African elephants in Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa (© Robert Harding/Alamy)

The village of Benasque, Huesca, Spain (© Miscellaneoustock/Alamy)

Elevated path in Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia (© Alessandro Laporta/Offset by Shutterstock)

Bombe code-breaking machine, Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire (© Louis Berk/Alamy)

Rocca Calascio in Abruzzo, Italy (© Francesco Russo/eStock Photo)

The Lowry Theatre and Imperial War Museum North, with reflections at Salford Quays, Greater Manchester (© Michelle McMahon/Getty Images)

Sleeping Arctic fox (© Menno Schaefer/Getty Images)

Queen of the Andes plants in the Cordillera Blanca mountains, Peru (© Cyril Ruoso/Minden Pictures)

Poinsettia leaf close-up (© Charles Floyd/Alamy)

Gornergrat railway station and the Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland (© coolbiere photograph/Getty Images)

Pine grosbeak (© Peter Lilja/Getty Images)

Cecil Brewer spiral staircase at Heal's furniture store, Tottenham Court Road, London (© Matt Cooper/Gallery Stock)

Ludwig van Beethoven sculptures and monument at the Münsterplatz, Bonn, Germany (© dpa/Alamy Live News)

Bastei Bridge above the Elbe river in Saxon Switzerland National Park, Germany (© Reinhard Schmid/eStock Photo)

Morning frost on trees in Mount Siguniang National Park, Sichuan Province, China (© Robert Harding World Imagery/Offset by Shutterstock)

Mountain goat kid in western Montana, USA (© Donald M. Jones/Minden Pictures)

Castlerigg Stone Circle near Keswick, Lake District, Cumbria (© Alan Copson/plainpicture)

Christmas lights on Cape Neddick Light in York, Maine, USA (© Walter Bibikow/Alamy)

Banded pipefish near Moalboal, Philippines (© Jenna Szerlag/Alamy)

Northern lights and wild reindeer on the tundra in Norway (© Anton Petrus/Getty Images)

Santa's giant sleigh and post box, Ilulissat, Greenland (© Walter Bibikow/Jon Arnold Images Ltd/Alamy)

Families play on the snow-covered slopes at Barnett Demesne Park, Belfast (© Stephen Barnes/Alamy)

Nabana no Sato garden at night in Kuwana, Japan (© Zoonar GmbH/Alamy)

Canada lynx in Montana, USA (© Alan and Sandy Carey/Minden Pictures)

Old Town of Lucerne, Switzerland (© Xantana/Getty Images)

Winter in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA (© Don Paulson/Danita Delimont)

Fireworks during a New Year's Eve celebration in Zaragoza, Spain (© Martina Badini/Shutterstock)