Paris snow seen from outer space

During a short clear sky window, a satellite managed to photograph Paris under a blanket of snow after last week's exceptional snowfall. The extremely precise pictures were taken from an altitude 800 km by the Sentinel 2 satellite, one of three operated by the European Space Agency's Copernicus programme.

Roissy-Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports were completely painted white with only the runways cleared.

Tourists enjoyed the unusual view of a snowy Champ de Mars park surrounding the Eiffel Tower, and the most adventurous managed to ski the 'slopes' of Montmartre and the Sacré Coeur church.