Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/r2vmq8yhl022dyu/VRP10305.mp4?dl=0
Footage shows the Saharan dust-covered mountains of the Pyrenees appearing like a martian landscape during a rare meteorological event called blood rain.
The strange scene was filmed in the Pyrenees mountain range which stretches across south-western France and north-eastern Spain on 6th February.
Several astonished visitors filmed the scene as entire mountains were covered in a reddish hue.
One person in the video says ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before’ while another adds ‘my goodness’ after stopping for a moment on the slope.
Other videos show people removing the layer of dust to show the white snow underneath.
Local media said the strange colouring of the snow was caused by ‘blood rain’ with dust particles coming from the Sahara Desert.
Blood rain is a rare occurrence where desert sands are carried north in the Earth’s atmosphere.
The sand particles are then absorbed by raindrops which later send it over large areas during rainfall.
The phenomenon also took place in the French and Swiss Alps where people were stunned to come across the Mars-like landscape.
The Spanish State Meteorological Agency(AEMET) said in a statement: ‘We hadn’t seen this in 30 years, at least not with this intensity.’