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UK astronaut Tim Peake says his first three days in space have been better than he imagined.

Speaking from the International Space Station, he said life in orbit "was absolutely spectacular".

He arrived at the station on Tuesday after blasting off from Kazakhstan on a Soyuz rocket.

Tim Peake's launch - as it happened

During a live link-up, he did a backwards somersault and said he was surprised how quickly his body has adapted to weightlessness.

Tim said his first two hours in space had been "pretty rough" and he had been feeling "disorientated and dizzy".

"But I am amazed how quickly my body has adapted," he added.

"On my second day I woke up feeling ready to go to work and I have had no problems since."

Tim said the most unexpected thing was "the blackness of space".

"We always talk about seeing the view of planet Earth and how beautiful it is and you come to expect that.

"But what people don't mention that much is when you look in the opposite direction and you see how dark space is.

"It is just the blackest black and that was a real surprise to me."

Tim will spend the next six months on board the ISS carrying out experiments.