Cold snap awaits northern Vietnam

Vu Anh Tuan, deputy head of the weather forecasting department at the National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting (NCHF), said it would be caused by a strong cold air mass.

American weather site AccuWeather forecast temperatures in Hanoi to be 19-27 degrees from now until Friday.

It expected them to drop to 14-15 degrees on Jan. 21, and to 14-15 degrees during the day and 9-10 degrees at night the following week.

At places 1,500 meters above sea level, such as Sa Pa City, temperatures next week are expected to be 10-16 degrees during the day.

The NCHF said from now until the Lunar New Year in early February cold weather would be frequent. But the average temperatures across the country would be 1-2 degrees higher than normal, it added.