The breathtaking winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards

The Natural History Museum's annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is one of the most prestigious photography contests in the world. This year's winners were awarded last night at the Natural History Museum in London.

The competition received over 50,000 entries from 95 different countries. A panel of experts narrowed this down to a shortlist of just 100 photos, which will go on exhibition at the Natural History Museum on Friday before touring across the UK and internationally.

The overall winner was American biologist and photojournalist, Tim Laman, for his image 'Entwined Lives' (right).

An overall winner award was also given to the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year - for contestants under the age of 17. This year's victor was young Londoner, Gideon Knight, for his image 'The moon and the crow'.

Other award categories included 'Birds', 'Plants and Fungi', 'Urban', 'Underwater' and more.

Unsurprisingly, the images that made the final cut are some of the most breathtaking you will see this year - take a look at them all below.