The temperature in parts of Siberia dropped to 50 degrees below zero while blizzards have blanketed Moscow with record amounts of snow and are causing problems for flights as winter sweeps across Russia.

In the Sakha Republic, located in the northeastern part of Siberia and including Yakutsk, one of the coldest cities in the world, temperatures fell below minus 50 degrees Celsius, according to weather stations in the region.

An unnaturally premature one cold wave dropped the temperatures even below minus 50 degrees Celsius in several parts of Sakha, a vast region slightly smaller in area than India.

Almost the entire Sakha is in the permafrost zone. In the regional capital, Yakutsk, which is about 5,000 kilometers east of Moscow, the temperature was around minus 44 to minus 48 degrees Celsius.

Temperatures of 50 degrees below zero have become less common in recent years due to climate change, with permafrost showing increasing signs of melting.

In the Russian capital, one of more severe blizzards ever recorded there is causing delays at airports today, with runways covered in heavy snow.

At least 54 flights were delayed and another five canceled at the capital’s three largest airports, the RIA news agency reported.

Temperatures in Moscow are forecast to drop to around minus 18C later this week.