The Observer’s 20 photographs of the week 10.02.2013

The best photographs in news and culture from around the world over the past seven days

A sheep looks out from its snow covered shed in Penistone, South Yorkshire. Snow and gale force winds returned this week to parts of Britain Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/PA

Gale-force winds battered the seafront at Seaham harbour in County Durham this week, as winter returned with a vengeance Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Cosmic clouds and stellar winds seen in an image provided by Nasa of LL Orionis and the Orion Nebula Photograph: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team/HA/EPA

See the rest of the twenty here

Snow over Europe

The excellent Denver Post pblogs bring this set of wonderful images from around a snow covered Europe. The full set can be seen here

Lampposts are covered in ice in the Adriatic coastal town of Senj, Croatia, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. Europeans across the continent have been battling more than a week of extreme weather, with thousands still trapped by snow in remote, mountain villages in the Balkans; hundreds – most of them homeless – dead after temperatures hit as low as minus 33 Fahrenheit (minus 36 Celsius); and authorities now facing the prospect of flooding caused by melting snow. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Birds are seen on the partly frozen river Elbe in Dresden, eastern Germany, Monday, Feb. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/dapd, Matthias Rietschel)

A car and trees are covered in ice on the shores of Lake Geneva, in Versoix, near Geneva, Switzerland, early Monday, Feb. 6, 2012. A cold spell is affecting large parts of Europe, with temperatures plummeting far below zero. (AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi)

Frost crystals pictured on a window in Zurich, Switzerland, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012. A cold spell has reached Europe with temperatures plummeting far below zero. (AP Photo/Keystone/Alessandro Della Bella)

…..MORE