Exceptional snowfall fell on Friday in Moscow, where a powder “apocalypse” was announced for the weekend, in the wake of the cold wave that hits Europe.
Despite the mobilization of 13,500 snow-clearing machines, the Moscow transport department on Friday called on residents to avoid travel.
“There is a large amount of snow on the roads, which greatly complicates traffic,” said the city, quoted by the Interfax news agency, reporting many accidents.
At 5:00 p.m., traffic jams in the Russian megalopolis reached the maximum level of 10 according to the Yandex Maps application, an exceptional figure in a city known for its traffic jams.
At the same time, temperatures were around -15 degrees Celsius.
“There was not enough snow in Moscow anymore. But now we can see that winter has arrived, ”commented Vitali Perevoztchikov, a warehouseman interviewed by AFP in central Moscow.
Last winter, the capital experienced record heat and very little snow. But this weekend, meteorologists announced the arrival of an “armageddon” of flakes.
It is estimated that the snowpack could grow 30 centimeters by Sunday, with precipitation peaking on Saturday, and approach the record of 77 centimeters set in 2013.
Quoted by Interfax, a deputy mayor of Moscow, Pyotr Birioukov, indicated that 56 snow collection points were currently operating and that nearly 60,000 employees are on the alert to clear the streets.
A spokeswoman for the Russian meteorological service Rosguidromet, Marina Makarova, told AFP this week that this exceptional snowfall was a continuation of the cold wave hitting Western Europe.
According to her, this intensity is due to a depression descending from the north with cold air, which charged with hot air coming from the Black Sea before rising towards central Russia.