Argentinian capital Buenos Aires celebrated Independence Day on Monday with the first snowstorm in nearly nine decades as a cold snap swept South America.

Wet snow fell for hours in the city, without accumulating, the first snowfall in Buenos Aires since June 1918, weather officials said.

Thousands of revellers greeted the natural phenomenon, which occurs roughly once in a century at the latitude the city is located.

The cold weather is reported to have caused the death of at least three people, two in Argentina and one in Chile, the BBC said.

Airports have been closed throughout the continent and some areas are under storm alert for the next few days, which is how long weathermen forecast the cold snap will last.

This is the second wave of cold weather to hit the continent, where it is now winter, in less than two months. A cold snap in May caused power shortages and killed 23 people.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!