Moscow has dumped artificial snow in Red Square to cheer up holiday crowds as Russia is expected to see its warmest December on record.

Passers-by were stunned to see snowdrifts on Red Square and Tverskaya Street, Moscow’s main road, over the weekend as the City Hall brought in artificial snow to the city centre, which will be shut down for traffic for the next eight days during New Year’s and Orthodox Christmas celebrations.

Ivan Demidov, director of the Zaryadye park just next to Red Square, said that they decided to use artificial snow “to bring the spirit of New Year to Muscovites” and boasted about hosting “the first permanent snowdrift in Moscow.”

Moscow has been six degrees warmer than usual this December, which is on track to become Moscow’s warmest on record.

It started to snow late afternoon on Monday but temperatures are expected to rise overnight, and it is predicted that New Year's Eve should break an all-time high of 5C.