HEAVY SNOW FORECAST IN SOUTH KOREA’S CENTRAL REGION AFTER COLD SPELL

SEOUL, Jan 8 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- A cold snap gripped South Korea on Thursday, with temperatures in Seoul falling to minus 8.2°C, as the state weather agency forecast heavy snow in the central region over the weekend, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The sensible temperatures dived to minus 13.2°C in the capital and minus 30°C in some mountainous areas of Gangwon Province in the morning, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

The cold snap will continue only until Friday morning, but heavy snow is expected in the central region from that night through the weekend, the KMA said.

Snow is forecast to expand to the southern region on Saturday morning, and snow or rain will begin falling on Jeju Island from Saturday afternoon, it noted.

The expected snowfall until Saturday is 3 to 10 centimetres in Gangwon's inland and mountainous regions, 3 to 8 cm in eastern Gyeonggi Province, 2 to 7 cm in the Jeolla provinces, 1 to 5 cm in western Gyeonggi Province and the Chungcheong provinces, and 1 to 3 cm in Seoul and Incheon.

Snow or rain is expected to continue until Sunday in South Chungcheong Province, the Jeolla provinces and the western inland areas of South Gyeongsang Province, the KMA said.

Afterwards, snow or rain is expected to fall again in the central region and North Jeolla Province on Monday, it added.

-- BERNAMA-YONHAP