Moscow temperatures hit 133-year high reducing effect of winter

As temperatures rise to the highest level in 133 years, residents of Moscow wonder where Winter has gone. The customary covering of snow that the Russian capital gets by now is not visible at all as mercury soars. At a time when temperatures reach well below zero degrees Celcius, it was recorded around 6 degrees on December 18, according to Elena Vosolyuk of the FOBOS weather center. It was only back in 1186 when Moscow was warmer i.e. 5.3-degree celsius which was still lower than what was recorded on Wednesday in the month of December.

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Speaking to the media, a pensioner, Ludmila Biryukova told that the winter didn't feel like Moscow's winter. It feels like it came from somewhere else, she added.

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Temperatures soar by an average of 12-degree Celcius

By this time of the year, the usual air temperature is minus 6.2 degrees, according to Russia's Hydrometeorological Research Centre. Weather experts cite that the unseasonable warmth has been brought by an atmospheric front from the Atlantic Ocean, and rain, not snow, is forecast for the New Year holiday, Russia's main festive celebration. The change is even visible in the plants. Snowdrops and rhododendron are among the flowers that have mistaken the soft soil for the early onset of spring at Moscow State University's Apothecary Garden.

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Deceived spring flowers blossom 

Head gardener Anton Dubinyuk told the media that the plants were deceived by this (warm weather) and decided it is spring already, so they are in bloom. He also warned that it could mean less colour later. Moreover, the flowers will not be able to survive when the winter comes. As a result, there will be no spring blossom, he predicted. Another man who was walking in the Apothecary Garden told the media that he was born in Moscow and had lived there his whole life. He is used to real winters and not they were experiencing this year, he added.

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