Image: Snowbound Italy

Italy is usually associated with relatively warm weather, but this week it, too, has fallen victim to the cold snap nicknamed the Beast from the East.

Freezing temperatures carried on winds from Siberia have brought snow to much of Europe, causing widespread disruption. As this image captured on 27 February by the Copernicus Sentinel-3A satellite shows, Italy in southern Europe was not spared. Temperatures in Rome (bottom right of the image) are normally between 6°C and 14°C, but this week it has been down to –5°C during the night, and it is the first time the city has seen snowfall in six years. Naples also had its heaviest snowfall in decades.