Moscow heatwave
© Sergei Vedyashkin / Moskva News AgencyTuesday's temperature of 29.2 degrees Celsius, beats the previous record set in 1897.
Moscow has beaten temperature records over 100 years old for the second day in a row Tuesday.

"It hasn't been as warm as today on this date in the entire history of weather observations," said the Fobos weather center.

The mercury in the Russian capital rose to 29.2 degrees Celsius, beating the previous record set in 1897 by 0.1 degrees.

Temperatures are likely to climb higher and reach around 33 C later in the afternoon, when they will approach an all-time May record of 33.2 C that was set on May 28, 2007, Fobos said.

Tuesday's record comes one day after temperatures in Moscow broke the May 17 record, with 30.4 C edging out the 30.0 C set in 1897.

The Moscow branch of Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry urged residents to stay hydrated and avoid exposure to sunlight as it warned of temperatures climbing as high as 32 C.

The Moscow region branch said some areas will swelter through 35 C heat.

The rest of European Russia has also set dozens of heat records in what Fobos said was a warm front coming from Central Asia.

Temperatures averaged 7-14 C higher than the climatic norm, Fobos said, while abnormal heat has stayed in the Urals and the Volga River regions for about a week.