This frequency will also be important to the MTG system's ability to monitor severe weather. The system will produce images of the full disc of Earth every 10 minutes once it is fully operational. The third generation of Meteosat meteorological satellites won't take images only at a higher resolution than that its predecessors, but they will also snap images of the planet more frequently than the instruments of the second generation of satellites. But the level of detail seen for the clouds in this image is extraordinarily important to weather forecasters.' 'It might sound odd to be so excited about a cloudy day in most of Europe. 'This remarkable image gives us great confidence in our expectation that the MTG system will herald a new era in the forecasting of severe weather events,' EUMETSAT director general, Phil Evans, said in ESA's statement.

MTG-I1 has also demonstrated its capability to observe cloud structures at high latitudes, which will help weather forecasters to track the rapid development of severe weather in these regions of the globe. An illustration of the Meteosat Third Generation satellites in orbit.

Google map satellite