Iraqis in the capital Baghdad woke up to snow for the first time in more than a decade, with the rare event giving residents a welcome respite from the country's political unrest.

Photographs and videos show people enjoying the unusual weather conditions on Tuesday, throwing snowballs and skating down the streets.

The country has been rocked ​by months of anti-government protests and soaring tensions with the US, following the assassination of a top Iranian general in Baghdad in early January.

More than 500 people have been killed since protests erupted in October, according to t​he Iraqi Human Rights Commission​.

In the city’s Tahrir Square, the centre of the protest movement, the protester’s sit-in tents were covered in snow on Tuesday morning.

Snowfall last recorded in the Iraqi capital back in 2008.​

Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Show all 17 1 /17 Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraqi protesters take cover behind a barricade on Al-Jumhuriya Bridge during an anti-government demonstration in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on 25 October, 2019. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Protesters push down concrete walls during a protest over corruption, lack of jobs, and poor services, in Baghdad. Reuters Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Anti-government protesters try to break into the provincial council building during a demonstration in Basra. AP Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraqi women protesters march with national flags during an anti-government demonstration in the central holy shrine city of Najaf. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire An Iraqi protester uses a mobile phone to take a selfie photo with an army soldier standing atop a humvee during a demonstration outside the local government headquarters in the southern city of Basra. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraqi protesters gather during an anti-government demonstration at the burning local government headquarters in Nasiriyah, the capital of Iraq's southern province of Dhi Qar. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraqi protesters wave a national flag as they stand atop the gatehouse to the local government headquarters in the southern city of Basra. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire An Iraqi protester throws back a tear gas canister fired by security forces amid clashes during an anti-government demonstration in Baghdad. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraqi protesters carry away an injured protester following clashes during an anti-government demonstration in Baghdad. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraqi security forces stand guard on Al-Jumhuriya Bridge during an anti-government demonstration in Baghdad. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Anti-government protesters gather in Tahrir Square during a demonstration in central Baghdad. AP Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire The burning local government headquarters in Nasiriyah, the capital of Iraq's southern province of Dhi Qar. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Protesters take cover behind a concrete barricade during a demonstration in Baghdad. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraqi paramedics help injured protesters in Baghdad. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraqi protesters gather in Baghdad. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire An Iraqi protester takes cover between concrete barricades in Baghdad. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Protesters take cover from teargas canisters fired by security forces in Baghdad. AFP/Getty

Elsewhere in the country, snow carpeted Mosul, the city liberated from ISIS in 2017. Snow is much more common in the north of the country than in the capital.

But Katharina Ritz, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in Iraq, tweeted her concern on Tuesday for displaced families living in tents and other non-permanent structures.

She wrote: “Being Swiss, I felt home when I smelled snow this morning. But it quickly reminded me of the many displaced #Iraq families in tents and unfinished shelters who are exposed to the cold temperatures and who have no means to stay warm.”

Most of the snow in Baghdad melted by midday on Tuesday.