British astronaut Tim Peake blasts off in show of fire and thunder in Kazakhstan

A Russian rocket carrying British astronaut Major Tim Peake into space blasted off from Kazakhstan yesterday in a spectacular display of fire and thunder.

The 305-tonne Soyuz launch rocket took off into a clear sky from the same spot on the Baikonur Cosmodrome where the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin, was shot into orbit in 1961.

Rising slowly at first from a conflagration of smoke and flames, the rocket quickly picked up speed until it became a bright star fading from sight.