'Karoo was transformed into a fairytale world'.

"I can only describe the scene with an Afrikaans word - sprokiesw*reld - like a fairy tale world," Africa said.

Resident Amanda Visser said: "It was such a beautiful sight this morning. My garden looked like an American Christmas. The snow was melted by the rain, but it's still on the mountain."

Yesterday, the coldest towns in South Africa were Fouriesburg in the Free State near the Lesotho border, and Dordrecht and Balfour in the Easten Cape interior. All three towns recorded a minimum temperature of -30C.

The windiest towns in the country were Langebaan, Saldanha and Paternoster on the West Coast.

Knysna in the Eden Municipality experienced …