A martian weather satellite has surprised scientists with its first report from the Red Planet, an Oxford University scientist has said.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter found winter conditions above the planet’s south pole are much warmer than had been expected.

The probe launched by the American space agency Nasa went into orbit around Mars two years ago.

Results from its observations are published for the first time today in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The team hopes to find clues which may explain how a planet that once had rivers and lakes like Earth turned out to be a waterless desert.

Professor Fred Taylor, from Oxford University, one of the scientists involved, said: “Winter at the Martian south pole is severe even by the standards of our Antarctic.

"The pole is shrouded in total darkness for many months and the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere freezes, creating blizzards and causing a thick layer of carbon dioxide ice to form across the surface.

“Yet what we’ve found is that 30 kilometres above the surface conditions are very different.