The sand dunes in Algeria’s Ain Sefra were iced with a covering of snow, as the Sahara Desert was hit with a blanket of the white stuff earlier this week.

In the summer, temperatures in the Algerian town reached above 105F (41C). However, recent cold winter weather briefly turned the typically scorching terrain into a winter wonderland on Sunday.

Snow on the edge of the Sahara Desert in Africa is rare, yet on Dec. 19, snow fell & was seen by our satellites: https://t.co/sLQmIWHWlopic.twitter.com/t3cLz7yYrs — NASA (@NASA) 22 декабря 2016 г.

Footage of the chilly conditions shows the rolling red dunes layered with icy patches, as snowflakes fall from the sky.

Up to 12in of snow is thought to have fallen in some areas of the desert, before temperatures began to rise again. Snowfall has occurred in the Sahara on just three occasions since 1979.

Situated in the east of Algeria, Ain Sefra is known as the ‘Gateway to the Desert’. In 2017, unusual snowy weather in the area was pictured from space by the Landsat 7 satellite.