ISTANBUL

At least two people were killed and 15 others injured due to bad weather in Russia’s capital on Wednesday, local authorities said.

“Bad weather hit Moscow today - strong winds with temperature changes…Unfortunately, there were casualties. 17 victims, two of them died,” Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Telegram.

Sobyanin added that large parks and other open public places in Moscow were promptly closed while warning messages were displayed on city screens and billboards.

The winds in the city reached more than 76 kilometers (47 miles) per hour and they took "all warning measures on time," he said.

“All of the victims are being provided with necessary medical care. At this hour, city services are taking swift action to deal with the situation," he added.

Earlier in the day, Evgeny Tishkovets, a leading specialist at the Phobos weather center, told the political talk show Solovyov Live that a cold front would move through central Russia.

Tishkovets said the front would bring showers in the afternoon as well as lower daytime temperatures in Moscow to 15-18C (59-64F) followed by 5-8C (41-46F) at night.

He also told the state-run news agency RIA in comments on the weather situation in the Russian capital that a new daily temperature record of 23.2C (73.7F) was recorded in Moscow on Tuesday.