Moscow faces strongest snowfall in 150 years

Cyclone Vanya has paralysed Moscow on December 15. The height of snowdrifts in Moscow set a record in almost 150 years, meteorologists said.

"Moscow has not seen such large snowdrifts on December 15 in nearly 150 years of meteorological observations. The snow record for this day that stood for 104 years, when a snow gauge in Moscow showed 32 centimetres in 1919, has been beaten. Now the date of December 15, 2023 has deservedly become the record holder for snowdrifts,” Yevgeny Tishkovets, leading specialist at Phobos Weather Centre, said on his Telegram channel.

At 9 am on Friday, December 15, snowdrifts at the Moscow State University weather station were measured 49 centimetres in height, with the norm being 15 centimetres. Snowdrifts may grow even higher by the end of the day as snowfall continues throughout the day.

Videos made in Moscow show people helping bus and even truck drivers get their vehicles out of snow traps in the streets of the city.