Our Tim. He's back. Perspiring a little, but he looks in good shape. 

Reporters shout questions. He answers.

"It was incredible. The best ride I've been on ever. Truly amazing. A life-changing experience. 

"The smell on Earth is really strong. 

"Looking forward to seeing the family. 

"I'm going to miss the view, definitely. 

"I'd like some cool rain right now; it's very hot in the suit. It's very hot in the capsule."

And then he says he'd like a cold beer.

Image source, NASA

According to Helen Sharman, who stayed for a week on the Soviet Mir space station in the 1990s, to start with you're likely to feel faint. "I was quite wobbly for a while even though my body hadn't adapted to the pressure difference sufficiently in space," she says. "So it took me a few paces to learn to walk in a straight line again."

Of Tim's class of European astronauts - they call themselves "The shenanigans" - only Frenchman Thomas Pesquet has yet to fly in space. He goes in a few months. In the meantime, he's been doing some baking.

Word from the search and recovery forces that the capsule was pulled on to its side by the big chute after landing. It's not a problem.

Tim Peake has ended his mission to the International Space Station. His Soyuz capsule, carrying him and his crewmates Tim Kopra and Yuri Malenchenko, has touched down on the Kazakh Steppe.

Touchdown confirmed at 10:15 BST.

Image source, NASA

Astronaut classmate, Italian Sam Cristoforetti, cheers Tim home.

First sight of the capsule and its main chute. This is the big screen at mission control, Moscow.

Image source, NASA

More good news. Mission control in Moscow reports that chute deployment occurred on schedule.

The crew were told to strap themselves tightly for landing.   

In Esa’s latest astronaut selection campaign, which picked Tim Peake, 95% of candidates were dismissed because they failed the psychological requirements.

Do you have the right personality to cope with life in space?

Do you have what it takes to be an astronaut?

Radio contact is back. "We feel good," says Yuri Malenchenko.  

The Soyuz is currently enveloped in a fiery plasma. No radio contact with the capsule is possible. That should end very soon.

A reminder of where the Soyuz aims to land.

Image source, NASA

The pyro-bolts have gone off as scheduled. The three elements of the Soyuz are now falling to Earth separately. This is good news. It means the heatshield on the landing module can face into the on-rushing air unobstructed.

Separation occurred 140km (90 miles) above the Earth.

The habitation and instrument modules will tumble and burn up in the atmosphere. 

Reports from the Steppe say the search and rescue teams are in position. Helicopters are circling the expected landing site.  

The three elements that make up the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft have to separate before the crew-return capsule enters the atmosphere.

On a few occasions in the past, this hasn't happened properly; the pyro-bolts that should fire to do the job have failed to go off.

If this happens, the capsule will come in much steeper and faster than it should, and will head off course. And it will make for a very uncomfortable ride.

Let's hope for a clean separation, timed for 09:49 BST.

There's no need for a passport to land from space! But the European Space Agency says they've been keeping it safe for six months, and it'll be returned when he's back on Earth.

Completed. All systems nominal, to use the space parlance. The four-minute, 37-second de-orbit burn was executed as planned. All the numbers appeared good.

Peake, Kopra and Malenchenko are headed home.

The Soyuz carrying Peake, Kopra and Malenchenko has begun its de-orbit burn. This will slow the spacecraft and start to bring it down.  

The atmosphere acts as a natural brake, and does most of the work in slowing the Soyuz down until a set of parachutes opens for a soft-ish landing on the Kazakh Steppe.

The de-orbit burn is a crucial moment and should last four minutes and 37 seconds.

Landing is scheduled for 10:14:39 BST. We'll see how close to that time the Soyuz actually touches the ground. 

Piers Sellers OBE, a UK-born Nasa astronaut, says he was inspired to go into space by Apollo. He hopes British children watching Tim today will get similar encouragement.