The British pop star was in Norway when the all-terrain vehicle she was in broke down during a snow-covered lake crossing, in pitch-black conditions.
Photographer Conor McDonnell, who has been documenting the singer’s shows on the road, shared the scary tale on Instagram.
He posted this dramatic snap, below, of their submerged vehicle, taken earlier this month, in the middle of a frozen lake.
Conor is adamant they would have died if they hadn’t clambered out of the vehicle’s sunroof to safety.
“That moment when you’re in -25 (degrees) in the middle of nowhere in Norway in the pitch black and your belt wagon crashes through the ice in the middle of a lake and you have to emergency evacuate through the roof,” he writes next to the pic.
“’Oh s**t we’re in’ was my first thought. Second was to take photos. We were in the front cabin. That is pretty much under water in this photo. A few minutes later it was all completely gone under the water and ice for good.”
A clearly shaken Ellie, 29, also shared her thoughts of her lucky escape with her nine million Instagram followers.
“Throwback to a few weeks ago when myself and @conormcdphoto nearly ended up in a lake in -30… Note to self don’t drive a BV206 over a frozen lake.”
The singer hasn’t let the incident put her off travelling – she is back on the road after kicking off her Delirium World Tour in Hamburg, Germany.
Ellie, who sung at the AFL Grand Final in Melbourne in October, 2015, is expected to bring her sellout tour to Australia at the end of 2016.