It's been nearly 40 years since the Sahara desert has seen snowfall, and luckily one photographer captured the moment in pictures. 

Karim Bouchetata caught the scene on camera in the small Algerian town of Ain Sefra on Monday. 

"Everyone was stunned to see snow falling in the desert," said Bouchetata, according to The Independent.   

"It is such a rare occurrence. It looked amazing as the snow settled on the sand and made a great set of photos."

The snow only lasted for about a day before melting.  

The town, which lies in the Atlas Mountains on the northern edge of the desert, hasn't seen snow since 1979. 

The snowfall at the time was referred to as "The Gateway to the Desert." The snow storm lasted just half an hour at the time. 

Layers of white snow mixing in with the rusty sand dunes

Against the backdrop of greenery

Climate change has also led to extreme heat in various parts of the region. Saudi Arabia witnessed snowfall back in November as temperatures dropped to -3 degrees Celsius in the northern Al-Jawf region.

Earlier this year, a NASA-led study revealed that the Middle East in 2016 experienced the worst drought in 900 years due to climate change. 

Projected hot weather extremes brought on by global climate change could make part of the Middle East and North Africa uninhabitable by the end of the current century. 

"MENA is a climate change hotspot that could turn into a scorching area in summer," the researchers wrote in the study published in the scientific journal Climatic Change.