HÀ NỘI —People in the northern mountains shivered yesterday as temperature dropped to freezing point - and snow is likely to blanket Sa Pa Township this morning.

On Lạng Sơn Province’s Mẫu Sơn Mountain, the thermometer yesterday dropped to minus 0.3 degrees Celsius

“Yesterday was the coldest day since the beginning of  winter,” Lê Thanh Hải, deputy director of the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting said.

Data from the centre showed by 6am yesterday morning, the temperature fell to 3.2 degrees in Vĩnh Phúc Province’s Tam Đảo District; 3.4 degrees Celsius in Hà Giang Province’s Đồng Văn District; 4.2 degrees Celsius in Lào Cai Province’s Sa Pa District; and 4.8 degrees Celsius in Sơn La Province’s Mộc Châu District.

The centre warned that extreme cold weather was predicted to last until Saturday . It said the temperatures would be 8-11 degrees in delta localities, 5-8 degrees in mountainous provinces and 3 degrees in high mountains. Hải added that the Mẫu Sơn area was in the centre of the cold spell. 

Lưu Minh Hải, director of Lào Cai Province’s Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting, said snow was expected to fall on Fansipan Mountain and nearby Sa Pa Town early today.

Hà Nội is also experiencing the coldest weather since the beginning of winter with temperatures of  8-11 degrees predicted until Saturday.

Officials in Lạng Sơn Province yesterday allowed students to take a day off from school due to the extreme weather.

The provincial People’s Committee ordered relevant agencies to assist local breeders to keep their cows and buffaloes warm. The measures include providing shelters and deep straw  and even lighting fires to keep the animals warm.

The provincial agriculture sector dispatched teams to villages to help local farmers protect their crop from the cold.

In Lào Cai Province, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, Đặng Xuân Phong, sent an urgent message to all units to help minimise damage to animals and crops.

Phong told the chairmen of People’s Committees to delay all non-urgent meetings to focus on helping residents.

The Hà Nội’s Education and Training Department yesterday said that parents should allow their children to take a day off from primary school if the forecast was for temperatures below 10 degrees. If temperatures fell  lower than  7 degrees, secondary school students should stay home..

Local schools were told to contact parents to inform them about extreme cold days. — VNS