PHOTO // Snow falls in the Sahara for the first time in 37 years
Snow fell in the Sahara desert on Tuesday for the first time from February 1979, and the snow lasted for a whole day, informs the Daily Mail.
This might not be the first place you'd expect to find a festive snowy scene, but incredible images show the Sahara desert looking particularly chilly.
It is just the second time in living memory that snow has fallen, with the last occasion being in February 18, 1979 - when the snow storm lasted just half an hour.
The pictures were taken by amateur photographer Karim Bouchetata in the small Saharan desert town of Ain Sefra, which is known as 'The Gateway to the Desert', Algeria, yesterday afternoon.
He captured the amazing moment snow fell on the red sand dunes in the world's largest hot desert.
This time the snow stayed for a day in the town, which is around 1,000 metres above sea level and surrounded by the Atlas Mountains, reports the Daily Mail.
The Sahara Desert covers most of Northern Africa and it has gone through shifts in temperature and moisture over the past few hundred thousand years.
Although the Sahara is very dry today, it is expected to become green again in about 15,000 years.
Karim captured the amazing moment snow fell on the red sand dunes in the world's largest hot desert
It is just the second time in living memory that snow has fallen in the Sahara village
Photographer Karim Bouchetata said villagers were stunned by the snowy scene in the Sahara desert
Snow was last seen in Ain Sefra 37 years ago
This time the snow stayed for a day in the town
The photographer said: 'Everyone was stunned to see snow falling in the dessert, it is such a rare occurrence'
It made for particularly unusual festive snowy scenes yesterday afternoon in Algeria
