This is the dramatic moment snow transformed the mountains of southern Spain into a classic winter scene.

Footage shows the highland route in Santiago Pontones, Andalusia, turned into a white village as fresh snow blanketed the area on December 3, around 10 am.

The guardrail and road edges were covered with two to three inches of soft, powdery ice from an overnight snowfall.

Santiago Pontones sits at over 3,600ft in the Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park, within Malaga province - a southern Mediterranean region where average December snowfall is usually under an inch.

This week, an early Arctic weather system has brought four to six inches of snow to the Sierras, closing high passes and delighting locals with a 'fairytale' transformation.