Heavy rain has hit Russia's capital, turning streets into wild rapids and even causing surprise rock-falls, rare in a largely flat region, giving Moscow a truly tropical feel amid unusually hot weather.
Massive rain and stormy winds hit Moscow on Saturday afternoon, seemingly putting an end to a nearly week-long spell of scorching heat. Emergency services released a warning ahead of the storm, forecasting hail, thunderstorms and strong winds peaking at 17-22 m/s (38-49 mph), advising citizens to stay home and not to brave the weather. The warning remains in place until Sunday.
Some trees have been reportedly brought down by strong winds across the Russian capital, but no information on injuries or casualties was immediately available.
At the height of the storm, visibility dropped drastically and cars were ‘sailing’ through the waves of rain.
Some looked at the bright side of the natural phenomenon. "We're in the tropics now!" the caption of the video reads.
Somewhere in Moscow, rainwater levels rose so high they managed to flood a bus. An Instagram user, who captured the flooding, joked the bus became a "submarine" and was ready to submerge.
Other users witnessed sights more befitting some mountainous regions, with quite large boulders washed up in the middle of the road.
Moscow Sheremetyevo airport was not spared by the storm, with the runway getting visibly flooded. The bad weather caused slight delays of departures and arrivals.
Thankfully, no Russia 2018 World Cup matches were held in Moscow today. The 1/8 final game between Russia and Spain, scheduled for Sunday at the Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium might be threatened by predicted bad weather. Meanwhile, readers can follow RT’s special coverage of the tournament in full shelter.
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