Four days of thunderstorms across Mecca, a city that receives just 22mm of rain on average every year.

Thunderstorms have lit up the skies of Mecca for four consecutive days.

The storms brought torrential rain and triggered power cuts in the holy city which receives just 110 millimetres of rain annually on average.

Residents posted photos and videos on social media as they celebrated the wet weather.

The heaviest of the rain was in the northern parts of the city and the huge thunderclouds also drifted north across to Jeddah, the modern commercial hub on the banks of the Red Sea.

Although occasional thunderstorms are not out of the ordinary, in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula, rain is far less common.

Mecca’s average rainfall for September is 5.2mm. Although no official reports have been released, it is highly likely the city has seen more than the average in the past few days.