This is the terrifying moment a snake emerged on a car windscreen in Thailand.

The green tree snake was hiding in a small gap under the bonnet before rearing its head and shocking the driver in Roi Et province on May 24.

Footage shows the little reptile appearing to look for a way inside the car. The scared driver stopped her pickup truck before calling the animal rescuers for help.

However, the snake squeezed inside the car engine before the rescue team arrived so they had to search for it inside.

Driver Tan Parichad said: ‘I am not sure whether the snake was venomous or not so we were scared. It was also thin so it could easily enter through small gaps in the car.’

Tan added that the snake may have fallen from one of the huge trees while he was parked on the side of the road.

He said: ‘I think the snake fell from the tree. It was the only place I could have gotten the reptile. There were no trees around my house.’

When the rescuers arrived, they used poles to lure the harmless 3ft long tree snake out. It was found hiding in the engine and was pulled out after half an hour.

No one was reported hurt including the snake. The animal was then taken by the rescue team to be released back into the wild later.