MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. Several inches of snow fell on Moscow within a matter of hours overnight and weather watchers say no improvement is in sight during today. Both pedestrians and motorists are having no easy time moving about the city. Moscow’s transport authorities have warned all those who usually use private cars to change their habits for a while and use public transport.
Moscow drivers since Tuesday evening displayed a great deal of caution and discipline on the roads. There was only one major road accident, in which 11 vehicles piled up. A heart attack suffered by one of the drivers was to blame. Nobody was seriously hurt.
During the day of Wednesday Moscow is expected to see another 2-3 centimeters of snowfall, with air temperatures ranging 1-3 degrees below freezing. Towards the evening it will get slightly colder: 5-6 degrees below zero Celsius, and night-time frosts are expected at 7-17 degrees.
A huge fleet of 15,000 snow-fighting vehicles and trucks are clearing Moscow streets of snow.
The operation of Moscow airports, which had to delay or cancel dozens of flights Tuesday evening, is now back to normal. Arrivals and departures are on time.
Moscow’s Domodedovo airport has told TASS the terminals are operating as usual and all incoming and outgoing traffic is unhampered.
"Domodedovo has serviced 590 take-offs and landings over the past twenty four hours.
The press services of Vnukovo and Sheremetievo airports have said that as at 10:00 Moscow time there were no delays and all flights were on time.
Heavy snow last night delayed or suspended dozens of flights. Weather alert stayed effective till Wednesday morning.