Cold spell hits northern Vietnam

A cold spell has come to northern Vietnam regions Wednesday morning, bringing the lowest temperatures in Hanoi down to 21 degrees Celsius in the coming days.

A cold spell has come to northern Vietnam regions Wednesday morning, bringing the lowest temperatures in Hanoi down to 21 degrees Celsius in the coming days.

Due to impacts of cold air and high-altitude winds, northeastern Vietnam regions, including Hanoi, would see rain levels between 16-100 mm over 24 hours from Wednesday night to Thursday, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

Hanoi's temperatures would be around 21-26 degrees on Wednesday and 21-22 degrees on Thursday, before rising to 23-24 degrees on Saturday, according to U.S. weather forecast service AccuWeather. High-altitude locations like Lao Cai's Sa Pa would see temperatures at around 14-17 degrees, a drop of 2-5 degrees from previous days.

Central Vietnam localities from Ha Tinh to Binh Thuan are currently seeing heavy rains. Areas from Nghe An to Ha Tinh have recorded rain levels of over 100 mm over the last 12 hours, with certain regions in Nghe An seeing rain levels of up to 310 mm.

Rains in central Vietnam regions are expected to last for 2-3 days, with risks of flooding and erosion in certain areas.

Winter has come to northern Vietnam since earlier this month, but temperatures have still been high in recent days, with Hanoi recording temperatures between 22-30 degrees. Meteorologists said this year's winter may see average temperatures about 0.5-1 degree higher than previous years. The first major cold episode should show up in the latter half of December, in January and the first half of February next year.