The sand on the beach at Fuengirola - a favourite winter getaway for British OAPs - had an uncharacteristic look about it as midday temperatures struggled to hit double figures.

Beach bars were deserted as many locals and tourists opted to stay indoors.

Retired shop worker Patricia Dugsdale, who flew to Malaga overnight to stay with her expat daughter Jacqui, said: “I wasn’t expecting to get my swimsuit out at this time of the year but I didn’t think I’d be joking about making a snowman on the beach.”

HGV driver Robert Duggan added “My hotel manager says people were walking round in shorts and a T-shirt a few days ago so I obviously picked the wrong week to come.”

The dip in temperatures followed a week of sun and blue skies in the area and other British holiday favourites on the Costa Blanca as winter failed to make an appearance. 

Last Thursday holidaymakers in resorts like Torrevieja a short drive south of Alicante were pictured lapping up the sun as temperatures reached an unseasonal 23 degrees Celsius (73.5 degrees Fahrenheit).

Later yesterday morning/on Monday morning - after a sudden dip in temperatures and one of the coldest nights of the year so far - the Costa del Sol was hit by heavy rain and thunderstorms.

One local living on the beach front at Fuengirola joked on Twitter after waking up to see it under a blanket of white: “When the Costa del Sol becomes the Costa del Snow.”

Town hall sources insisted that although it appeared to have snowed, the white blanket was actually thick hail which had settled on the beach in temperatures of around five degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit).