ARTIFICIAL snow and Christmas trees in pots – did you ever imagine Russian winter holidays looking like THIS?

As a snowless Moscow winter defies the image of the traditional Russian-style holiday season, piles of artificial snow have been brought to a central park in a last-ditch effort to raise local citizens' spirits.

With temperatures of just -1 Celsius (30,2 Fahrenheit) on the streets of the Russian capital on Saturday, artificial snow had to be imported for a Christmas market at the Zaryadye Park, which is adjacent to the iconic Red Square and the Kremlin.

The snow was piled up near spruces that were brought in from Siberia and installed outside the booths, which sell things like traditional Russian fur hats, handmade souvenirs and Christmas decorations. The market will stay open until early January, when Orthodox Christmas is celebrated in Russia.

The unusual stunt sparked jokes about “the sole snow pile in Moscow” on social media.

“The things some won’t do for holiday cheers,” a Twitter user wrote. Another said that “an artificial winter has come to Zaryadye.”

Moscow is experiencing its warmest winter since the 1880s. Meteorologists believe the weather has been affected by cyclones in the Atlantic.

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