The world’s largest desert sees a dusting of snow for the first time in 37 years.
It’s not often you see rolling red sand dunes transformed into a winter wonderland – but that’s exactly what the Sahara looks like this week.
The world’s largest hot desert has received a rare coating of snow, and the magical covering was captured beautifully by amateur photographer Karim Bouchetata.
The snapper caught the unexpected imagery in the town of Ain Sefra, Algeria, on December 19, marking the first time the Sahara has seen snow in almost 40 years.
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The desert last had an icy dusting in February 1979, in a snow storm that lasted just 30 minutes, The Telegraph reported.
This week’s thin layer of snow lasted just a day, Bouchetata told the British newspaper.
“Everyone was stunned to see snow falling in the desert, it is such a rare occurrence,” he said.
“It looked amazing as the snow settled on the sand and made a great set of photos.”
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While the snow itself was rare, Ain Sefra often reaches lows of around 3 degrees Celsius in the winter.
The desert itself spreads across several countries including Chad, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Niger, and Tunisia, and sees scorching highs of up to 47C in the summer.
Saudi Arabia also experienced some wintry snowfall this month, which saw deserts turned to white blankets and mountain roads made into impromptu ski slopes.
However we’ll just have to settle for Ski Dubai when we want to feel all cold and festive…
Image: Karim Bouchetata/Facebook
