Moscow's main airport closed to international traffic Sunday as unseasonably warm weather produced hail storms that wreaked havoc with the city's traffic and left shoppers navigating streets of ice. The heavy sleet downed transmission lines across central Russia and ground Moscow's traffic - notorious at the best of times - to a virtual halt.
Domodedovo International Airport, which handles a daily average of more than 55,000 travellers, reported a total power outage at around 8:00 am (0700 GMT).
The airport only managed to handle about a dozen local flights in the course of the day, with about 16,000 people left stranded after the cancellation of more than 100 flights.
The city's second-largest airport Sheremetyevo remained open but also experienced hours-long delays on some international routes. It received 10 flights from Domodedovo before shutting to the extra traffic because of the weather, state television said.
Temperatures in Russia's capital hovered around the freezing point throughout the weekend, producing unseasonable rain showers that turned the city into what one television station described as a "concrete skating rink".
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.