This Meteosat-10 image, acquired at 06:00 UTC on 20 March 2014, shows the last morning of the winter season over the Northern Hemisphere.

The Natural Colour RGB shows that the last morning of the winter season brought clear skies and calm weather to many parts of western Europe.

Although the meteorological winter ends on 1 March, the astronomical winter ends around 20 March (depending on the position of Earth's orbit in relation to the sun).

In 2014 the transition between winter and spring, known as the vernal equinox, took place at 16:57 UTC on 20 March.

Winter 2013/2014 brought severe weather to some parts of Europe. Continuous storms in the UK led to England and Wales having the wettest winter in almost 250 years, with many places severely flooded. Parts of Spain, Portugal, France and Ireland were also battered by winter storms. Meanwhile, the Alps, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia and parts of Germany had heavy snowfall.

In the US and Canada waves of Arctic air brought extended periods of cold weather and above-average snowfall to the middle and eastern areas. The Great Lakes froze, with 91 percent ice cover. However, California had its hottest winter on record and drought conditions.

View the full resolution image.

Credit: EUMETSAT 2014