Watch video: Sahara Desert Covered in Snow As Temperatures Plunge to -2C | Watch

Deserts are the places that we usually associate with scorching heat and barren sandy wastes, but in recent years the Sahara Desert has been experiencing rare bouts of snowfall. As temperatures plummeted to below freezing, snow has again descended in the Sahara Desert in north-western Algeria. Photographer Karim Bouchetata has captured some sunning images of snow blanketing sand dunes in the town of Ain Sefra in northwestern Algeria where temperatures fell to -2 degrees earlier this week. Ain Sefra, known as The Gateway to the Desert, is around 1,000 metres above sea level and surrounded by the Atlas Mountains.

Watch the video here:

This is only the fifth time in the past 42 years that snow has fallen on the town, with previous occurrences in 1979, 2016, 2018 and 2021. The ice created stunning patterns in the sand after the area saw a sprinkling of snow fall unexpectedly. On social media, photos and a video of the snow-covered Sahara Desert have gone viral, leaving people mesmerised.