Orange snow blankets eastern Europe

Parts of eastern Europe were blanketed with orange-tinted snow over the weekend.

The phenomenon has been seen across Russia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania and Moldova.

Meteorologists said sand from Sahara desert storms mixing with snow and rain caused the orange snow.

It occurs roughly once every five years.

This sandstorm made its way from Greece to Russia, and could be seen via NASA satellite imagery.

Skiers and snowboarders near Sochi, Russia posted photos of the unusual sight.

"We're skiing on Mars today," one user posted on Instagram.

Steven Keates, a weather forecaster at the UK’s Met Office, said, “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.”

(ABC)