At least one person died and several were injured after Moscow experienced its heaviest day of snowfall since records began, the city's mayor and agencies said Sunday.

Russia's meteorological service said Moscow had seen more than half its average monthly snowfall in the space of 24 hours, with 43 centimetres (17 inches) blanketing the capital by Sunday morning, agencies reported.

"One person died from a falling tree that hit an electric power line," Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his VKontakte social media page, adding that 2000 trees had already been brought down by the extreme weather.

"According to the latest information, five have been injured. Be careful. The forecast says the weather will get worse," he later said via Twitter, warning of strong winds to come.

Nearly 150 flights were delayed and dozens cancelled at the city's airports.

"There will be a blizzard, poor visibility... heavy snowfall on the roads," said meteorologist Evgueni Tichkovets, quoted by news agency Ria Novosti.

Nearly 70,000 City Hall employees have been mobilised to clear snow off the roads and authorities have asked people to avoid driving.

Earlier an official from Moscow's meteorological office told Interfax news agency the equivalent of 14 millimetres of water had fallen in 12 hours on Saturday, topping a previous record from 1957.

Related Links
It's A White Out at TerraDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

North Iran gets massive snow dump
Tehran (AFP) Jan 28, 2018
After months of waiting for the snow to arrive, Tehranis were hit by massive snowfall overnight on Sunday that shut airports and schools but delighted the ski community. The capital's Imam Khomeini International and Mehrabad airports were shut due to poor visibility "until further notice", state television said. Some 20 provinces in the west and north of Iran were affected by the snowfall that began on Thursday and peaked on Saturday night, with some mountainous areas receiving as much 1.3 met ... read more