Blizzards blanket Moscow in snow after unusually mild winter

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Blizzards blanketed Moscow in snow on Sunday, covering Red Square in up to 10 cm (4 inches) of snow after an unusually mild winter in the Russian capital.

Weather forecasters said the entire month's average snowfall was expected over Sunday and Monday as snow buried spring flowers. Temperatures plummeted to below zero from as high as 16 degrees Celsius (60.8 degrees Fahrenheit) on Friday.

Transport authorities in the wider Moscow area, which is home to more than 22 million people, warned drivers who had already replaced their winter tyres not to venture out onto the roads. In Russia, special snow tyres are obligatory in winter.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Helen Popper)