Saudi Arabia’s Sahara Desert has seen snowfall for the first time in over 50 years.
The snowfall came as temperatrues dropped across the Kingdom last night, to minus 2 degrees centigrade.
While temperatures in the Sahara can climb upwards of 50 degrees, there has been unusually moderate temperatures during the month of January.
The unusual weather has attracted large numbers of people, leaving their homes to experience snow (many for the first time) to take photographs and posts on social media.
Snow was spotted across the country, however the largest buildup was across the Aseer region, which is south of Mecca along the coast of the Red Sea.
This marks the first time in over 50 years that snow has been spotted, and the first time in a hundred years that temperatures this low have been recorded.
Algeria and Saudi Arabia deserts are covered in snow this January 2021 as temperatures dipped to -2°C pic.twitter.com/HQchXw8hG2
— SᗯᗩᕼIᒪI~ᑭᑌᑎᗪIT (@YussufMwinyi) January 18, 2021
Heavy snow was also recorded across the region, including in Algeria, Lebanon, Iran and Syria.
The incredibly low temperatures come off the back of 2020 being crowned the hottest year on record.
Esquire now has a newsletter – sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox.
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit ‘Like’ on our Esquire Facebook page and ‘Follow’ on our @esquiremiddleeast Instagram and Twitter account.
