Dust from a sandstorm in the Sahara desert is causing snow in eastern Europe to turn orange, transforming mountainous regions of Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria and Romania into Mars-like landscapes.

The unusual scenes are believed to be created by a mix of sand, dust and pollen particles stirred up and swept across from storms in northern Africa. According the meteorologists, the phenomenon occurs roughly every five years.

Не удивляйтесь, это не пески, это снег в Сочи. pic.twitter.com/vTUuRPCeQY — Valentyna Vashchenko (@ValentynaVashc2) March 23, 2018

Steven Keates, a weather forecaster at the UK’s Met Office, told the Independent:



“As the sand gets lifted to the upper levels of the atmosphere, it gets distributed elsewhere.

“Looking at satellite imagery from Nasa, it shows a lot of sand and dust in the atmosphere drifting across the Mediterranean.”

Skiers and snowboarders posted photographs on Instagram and Twitter that showed eerie orange scenes.



An image captured at Russia’s Sochi ski resort, depicts unfazed skiers gliding down tangerine slopes under an orange-tinted sky.

One person wrote “Martian landscape, Apocalypse Now.”



Another added: “Snowy slopes were transformed into barkhan dunes.”

It is not the first time eastern Europeans have experienced an eerie snow-tint.