Moscow recorded its warmest year on record in 2024, with an average annual temperature of 8.2C, the highest in the city's 245-year history of meteorological observations, according to Moscow State University (MSU).

The Meteorological Observatory at MSU reported on January 2 that the previous record of 8°C, set in 2020, was broken last year. While January and May experienced colder-than-usual conditions, the remaining ten months of the year were noticeably warmer. The city's peak temperature in 2024 soared to a balmy 33.1°C, was recorded on July 4, while the lowest, -24.9°C, occurred on January 4.

September was particularly warm, registering an average temperature of 17.9°C, 5.7°C above the climate norm. This made it the hottest September in Moscow's history, breaking a 177-year-old record of 17°C set in 1847 during the reign of Tsar Nicholas I. The month also featured 263 hours of sunshine, attributed to the prolonged presence of stationary anticyclones and fronts over central Russia.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations' climate and weather agency, has anticipated that 2024 will be the hottest year globally ever documented. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned in his New Year address that temperatures continue to rise as the Climate Crisis accelerates faster than scientists predicted: "The past decade has seen the ten hottest years on record, including the current one."