Chilly weather's headed our way

Toby Ng and Reuters

Chilly weather is to expected to hit Hong Kong next week, with the mercury forecast to drop to as low as 14 degrees Celsius in parts of the New Territories.

Hong Kong, however, experienced the second-hottest November day on record yesterday with temperatures at 30.7 degrees.

The observatory said the northeast monsoon will affect the coast of Guangdong in the next couple of days, and it will be windier with one or two rain patches over the region.

Yesterday's weather was sunny and dry. The 30.7 degrees logged in the afternoon was only surpassed by the 31.8 degrees set on November 19, 1959.

A strong northeasterly monsoon will reach southern China over the weekend and temperatures in the region will plummet early next week.

It is expected that the lowest temperature in urban areas on November 14 will be 19 degrees. But it will be 14 degrees at around 7am in several areas in the New Territories.

The temperature in Hong Kong is expected to drop to 20 degrees on Monday.

"Another intense northeast monsoon will reach southern China during the weekend. Temperatures will fall over the region early next week," the observatory said.

Next week will be dry with sunny periods and will be cooler in the morning and night.

Unseasonably cold weather and blizzards hit northeast China yesterday, forcing hundreds of flights to be rescheduled and closing schools as several cities issued heightened weather alerts and warned people to stay indoors.

As of 10.30am yesterday, 405 flights were canceled at Harbin Taiping International Airport in the capital of Heilongjiang, the country's northernmost province, according to data from third-party travel app Flight Master.

Most parts of Harbin suspended primary and secondary schools, kindergartens, and off-campus training institutions, according to the government's official WeChat account.

Many flights were canceled in Jilin and Liaoning provinces, and in the Inner Mongolia region, Flight Master showed.

Videos show travelers stranded in a railway station as heavy snow lashed Jilin's Changchun city.

China's weather authority warned of a drastic drop in temperature in the coming days.

"The season changed overnight," a Weibo user from Heilongjiang said.

Yesterday, Inner Mongolia, and Liaoning and Jilin provinces suspended schools.

toby.ng@singtaonewscorp.com