This is the Sisyphean moment a family that almost finished clearing the entire yard of snow had an unpleasant surprise the very next second when a massive pile fell from the roof.

Amusing CCTV footage shows the two men and three women shovelling the leftmost corner of their yard in Hunan in southern China on Wednesday afternoon, January 7.

One man pushed over a small wheelbarrow to collect what little snow they had left to shovel before heading home for the day.

But they found themselves having to start all over again when a giant amount of snow fell from the roof, covering the entire yard they had just finished cleaning.

They all stood watching in shock, then laughed at the unexpected turn of events. Luckily, they were all standing aside at the time of the incident and no one was injured.

One of the women later said: 'Watching the surveillance footage, I feel really lucky.

'These days, whenever there's time at home, I shovel snow. However, because it's all frozen, it's challenging to shovel, so I haven't finished it yet.

'Today, it started to thaw slowly. In the morning, the snow on the neighbour's roof slid down with a loud noise.

'Thinking that it might happen to our house too, I moved the car out in advance and told my little niecenot to play in the yard today.

'We were also shovelling snow, paying occasional attention. Watching the surveillance, it feels like even if we were paying attention, itmight not have been enough to dodge that moment.

'Fortunately, we were all right thereat that time, so it's really lucky!

'After the initial shock, looking at the snow onthe ground, we all laughed. Everyone, please make sure to stay safe.'

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was punished in the underworld by having to constantly roll a boulder up a steep hill, only to have it roll back down every time he neared the peak.