As seen from space: erupting volcano and frozen Niagara Falls

1 – Volcanic eruption in Chile

Villarrica, one of Chile’s most active volcanoes, erupted in the early hours of 3 March, leading to thousands of people in its vicinity being evacuated.

The before and after images below, taken on 22 February and 5 March, show how the snow-capped peak of the volcano was completely covered in ash on its northern side.

2 – Twin tropical cyclones over Australia

On 19 February, northern parts of Australia were battered by two severe tropical cyclones on the same day.

Storms Lam and Marcia had winds of 105mph and 125mph respectively when they made landfall along the coasts, giving heavy rain, damaging winds and flooding.

The image below shows the storms clearly, with masses of cloud circulating around a small eye.

3 – Saharan dust over the Mediterranean

Strong south westerly winds coming of the Sahara desert early in February whipped up a huge plume of dust and pushed it out across the Mediterranean Sea.

The image below, taken on 1 February, shows the haze of dust over northern Libya, extending across the Mediterranean Sea towards Turkey.

4 – Alpine snow

A winter storm swept across much of Europe during the first week of February, leaving the continent’s mountain range covered in a deep blanket of snow.

The picture below of the Alps, from 9 February, shows the snow hugging the rugged mountains, with the dendritic vein-like pattern of the river valleys below.

5 – Frozen Niagara Falls

North eastern parts of the US have had a harsh winter, with snowfall and temperature records broken following plunges of frigid arctic air.

The picture below, taken on 20 February, shows not only a snow-covered landscape, but ice covering much of Lake Erie, along with chunks of ice in a frozen Niagara Falls.

If you look closely, you can even see the gridded road pattern, separating snow cover on plots of land.

Images: Nasa