As 2026 arrives, here’s a look back at some of the best photos of 2025. Some tell a story; others are just lovely images that deserve another viewing.

1 January snow chaos

There was anger at the slow response to the sustained cold snap in January. Main roads were frequently gritted, but many minor roads and pavements were left untreated for several days, prompting numerous residents to contact us saying they felt trapped in their homes and questioning why more wasn’t being done to help. This photo outside the Leeds Road practice in Harrogate, taken four days after snow fell, highlights the problem — the surgery had cleared its entrance, but the pavements remained treacherous.

2 Summer solstice over the Stray

From the big freeze in January to high summer in June. Syd Bell captured the glorious solstice over the Stray in Harrogate on June 21, when the sun rose at 4.34am and set at 9.42pm on the longest day of the year.

3 Fire devastates The Cricketers pub

At about 4am on April 1, fire ripped through The Cricketers pub at Calcutt. Nobody was injured. The pub, next to the Calcutt Oval cricket ground at the junction of Thistle Hill and Forest Moor Road, had been a familiar sight for years but it is now a burned-out shell. A woman was arrested on suspicion of arson and subsequently released on bail. The pub was listed for sale in June. It was advertised as having “alternate use potential, subject to obtaining the necessary consents”. Here's a rear view of the pub.

4 Sara Cox's epic run

Few stories uplifted the nation more this year than Sara Cox’s 135-mile, five-day run from Kielder Forest to Pudsey in West Yorkshire for Children in Need. On day four she ran through Masham and Kirkby Malzeard and stayed overnight in Ripley, where a large crowd greeted her. She passed through Killinghall and Beckwithshaw on the final day of a challenge that raised more than £10 million. Our photo shows her Ripley arrival.

5 Van on rail track at Knaresborough

Emergency services rushed to Knaresborough at about 6.30am on July 10 when a van crashed through the level crossing barrier and hit the signal box. The van ended up on the track until it was removed at 8.30am. Nobody was injured but the incident led to delays for some train travellers heading to the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate. The van driver later claimed the vehicle rolled down Kirkgate when his French bulldog, Reggie, chewed through the handbrake cable.

6 Art at Fountains Abbey

Fountains Abbey near Ripon, arguably the most spectacular sight in the Harrogate district, looked even more dramatic in October when this seven-metre sculpture called Helios went on display in October. Luke Jerram’s creation was hung in the nave of the ruined abbey and attracted large crowds.

7 Hollywood star goes shopping in Harrogate

Rebel Wilson bought a padded bomber jacker at Mint Velvet in Harrogate during a break from shooting the film Tinsel Town in Knaresborough. Sarah Sowray, a style advisor at the women's clothes shop on James Street, only realised who the Australian star was when she asked her to type her email address to receive promotional emails. She told us: “I felt so silly afterwards.” Stray Ferret staff didn’t feel too clever either, discovering a Hollywood star with 11 million Instagram followers had passed by our office unnoticed.

8 Harrogate recaptures its floral magic

Harrogate never looked better this year than on August 11, when the Britain in Bloom judges arrived to assess the town’s challenge. On a sweltering day, they posed for photos on West Park with some of the key players behind the town’s bid. Harrogate went on to win a gold medal in the small city category of the national finals.

9 Man dies on Harrogate trainline

A man in his 70s died when his car left the road and ended on the trainline at Harrogate. The silver VW Golf somehow avoided other vehicles and trees when it careered off York Place and went down the railway embankment close to Stray Rein at 3.19pm on July 18. It was later revealed the man, who has not been named, died of natural causes.

10 Ripon's poppy dress 

Soprano Charlotte Potter literally wore her poppies with pride when she sang at the Ripon Remembrance Concert on November 6. Ripon Community Poppy Project's Knit and Natter group made more than 1,500 hand-crafted poppies to create her stunning dress with 12-foot train.