The image zooms in on Europe, as seen by the MTG-Sounder satellite from geostationary orbit, about 36 000 km from the planet’s surface. It was captured on 15 December 2025 by the satellite’s Infrared Sounder instrument, using the long-wave infrared channel, which measures Earth’s surface temperature as well as the temperature at the top of clouds.
The close-up of Europe in long-wave infrared shows cloud cover associated with Storm Claudia across much of the continent. National coastlines and borders have been superimposed on the image.
Blue shades depict clouds from the frontal system stretching from the Iberian Peninsula towards Central Europe, connected to the low-pressure centre over the Northwest Atlantic. Clouds with very cold tops appear in darker blues, indicating intense storm activity. The hottest areas are shown in red, with the land surface of the Sahara Desert dominating the southern edge of the view.
Read full article: Europe’s next-generation weather satellite sends back first images