Satellite images from Saturday (March 15) show the tornadoes and thunderstorms that hit the US Midwest and Southeast overnight.

The weather activity is visible thanks to infrared and lightning mapper instruments from the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

At least 14 people were killed in Arkansas and Missouri as a series of tornadoes hit the US Midwest and Southeast overnight, raking a path of destruction that was still being assessed on Saturday, police said.

Twenty-six tornadoes were reported but not confirmed to have touched down late on Friday night and early on Saturday as a low-pressure system drove powerful thunderstorms across parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri, said David Roth, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center.

(Production: Gerardo Gomez)