“Overwhelming” heat: Moscow was suffocating on Friday under the effect of a heatwave which pushed the mercury to more than 35°C and broke a temperature record almost 30 years old, according to the Russian weather services.
In the Russian capital, a city with a continental climate, the temperature record of 33.4°C for July 10, established in 1996, was beaten Thursday with 33.9°C, the Russian Meteorological Center said on its website. On Friday, a new record could fall, with weather services forecasting a temperature of up to 36 degrees.
The heatwave will “persist” until the beginning of next week throughout the central part of Russia and in the south of its European part, with temperatures “exceeding the average climatic norms by 3 to 8 degrees”, predicts the Russian Meteorological Center.
Rush to the suburbs
Since the start of the week and the arrival of the heat wave, Muscovites on vacation have rushed to their country houses in the suburbs, as well as to the parks and near the fountains of the capital.
The heat poses a particular challenge for workers on the numerous construction sites, as well as for the elderly. “It’s hard, I take medicine,” confides Valentina Aleksandrovna, 86, interviewed by AFP in a street in Moscow. The heat “is overwhelming,” she said, adding, “I don’t remember experiencing such heat.”
Swimming in polluted waters
Some bathed in the city’s polluted ponds and canals, despite swimming bans. “The water is dirty, look. We are here because near water it’s easier to breathe at 33 degrees. I went swimming once, I very much doubt that I will go back,” says Igor, 55, who has just gone swimming in Tushino, in the north-west of the capital.
Scientists have been warning for years about the impact of climate change on heat waves, droughts and other extreme weather phenomena, which are increasingly intense and frequent.
Western Europe experienced its hottest June on record last month, as “extreme” temperatures hit the continent during two consecutive early heatwaves, according to the European service Copernicus.
