MOSCOW, February 3 (Itar-Tass) — Moscow Deputy Mayor Pyotr Biryukov, who is in charge of the housing and road services sector, told reporters on Friday that Moscow's overnight snowfall was unusual for such frosty weather. It caused traffic congestions, the worst this year.

The snow level reached almost ten centimetres, while the temperature was 20 degrees Celcius below zero. It is unprecedented when it snows at such low temperatures, he noted. It is a very complicated situation, but it is solved, he added.

The services coped with the snowfall – they cleared all the streets of snow and took away about 450,000 cubic metres of snow over the past 24 hours.

The work was seriously complicated by the transport that was parked along roads, he noted. For example, about 222,000 cars stood in the central district on Thursday.

The temperature in Moscow was 6-8 degrees lower than normal in the past three weeks. It is a serious test for the services. Nevertheless, there is no disruption in the heat supply. Heat is supplied to homes without fail. There have been no halts in the heating systems, the deputy mayor reported.