South Africa rarity: Snow for the first time in 11 years

In South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg, snow has fallen for the first time in 11 years.

It might sound strange given it is our summer in the Northern Hemisphere, but it is indeed winter in South Africa, in the Southern Hemisphere.

However, for the first time in 11 years it has snowed in Johannesburg, capital of the Gauteng province. According to the South African Meteorological Service, the last time it snowed here was on August 7th 2012.

Snow also fell in the provinces of Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga. Apart from delays in rush-hour traffic, there were no major disruptions.

Many people were rather happy about the rare occasion of snow, as pictures and videos depict. Even despite the bitterly low temperatures.

In the outskirts of Johannesburg -2°C was recorded, the lowest temperature of winter so far for them. At higher altitudes it was even colder; at Frankfort Aero for example, around 1500 m above sea level, temperatures plummeted to -11.4°C.

Though no records have been broken, there has been widespread frosts in the highland areas and it will continue to remain cold in the coming days.