SNOW in the SAHARA: World’s hottest desert covered in metre thick BLANKET of white

Zineddine Hashas/Geoff Robinson

The town received a light dusting before Christmas

The cold snap gripping most of Europe has spread south to the 9.4million square kilometre African desert.

A blanket of freezing snow has settled on the dunes up to a metre thick in some places.

Astonishing photos that emerged today from the town of Ain Safra, known as the ‘gateway to the desert’, show scenes reminiscent of a mountain range.

It comes just weeks after snow hit the Sahara for the first time in 37 years.

SNOW in the SAHARA! Magical pictures as snow covers the desert
Fri, January 20, 2017

The Sahara Desert has had the biggest snowfall in living memory after a freak winter storm.

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Snowfall in the Sahara Desert, January 20th, 2017.

The town received a light dusting before Christmas, but now waist-deep snow has been reported in some areas.

Children have been tobogganing in the thick snow and enjoying other wintery activities such as building snowman following the rare snowfall.

But the cold snap has also brought chaos to the tiny town, with passengers stranded on buses after the roads became slippery and icy.

Zineddine Hashas/Geoff Robinson

The largest hot desert in the world, the average daytime temperature reaches around 40 degrees

Until recently the last time snow was seen in Ain Sefra was during a half-hour blizzard in February 1979.

The freak weather stunned residents and also brought traffic to a standstill.

The phenomenon in the Sahara came as 2016 was named the world’s warmest year ever.

The largest hot desert in the world, the average daytime temperature reaches around 40 degrees Celsius, but during the nights the mercury drops considerably and has known to hit minus on some nights.

Areas of higher altitude are more likely to see snow, but it rarely spreads to the sand dunes or settles.

Zineddine Hashas/Geoff Robinson

Children have been tobogganing in the thick snow

Europe has been in the grip of a cold snap due to an area of high pressure over the continent, bringing extreme freezing temperatures with Moscow recording lows of -23 degrees Celsius.

Sub-zero conditions so far claimed more than 65 lives in Europe as the bitter cold sweeps the bloc.

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The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said: "Montenegro, Serbia, the republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria were much colder than normal, with temperatures as low as -15C over five consecutive days.

"The surrounding countries – Italy, Greece, Turkey and Romania were five to 10C colder than normal for the time of year."

Zineddine Hashas/Geoff Robinson

The phenomenon in the Sahara came as 2016 was named the world’s warmest year ever

Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, Albania and Belgium have all witnessed scenes of carnage caused by the snow, with schools closed, flights cancelled, cars stranded and treacherous conditions on some roads.

In Abruzzo, Italy, an avalanche buried a remote hotel.

Rescue workers have been tirelessly digging to try and reached the trapped guests.

So far eight people – including two children – have been freed but dozens more are still to be trapped.

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