SEOUL, Dec 17 — South Korea came under the grip of the season’s coldest weather today, with the morning lows plummeting to -12.4 degrees Celsius in Seoul, the state weather agency said.

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) predicted temperatures will drop further Monday morning, with the morning lows in the capital expected to be between -18 degrees Celsius to -3 degrees Celsius, reported Yonhap news agency.

The weather agency said the Daegwallyeong district in Gangwon Province saw the temperature drop to morning lows of -16.8 degrees Celsius and a sensible temperature of nearly -29.7 degrees Celsius today.

A total of 12 flights were cancelled on the southern resort island of Jeju this morning, officials said, amid the cold wave and heavy snow.

The cold snap affected Jeju International Airport, prompting the flights to be cancelled and another 30 flights to be delayed as of 11am, according to airport officials.

As of this morning, mountainous areas in Jeju had received up to 20.1 centimetres of snow, weather authorities said.

The flight cancellations at the Jeju airport came a day after the KMA issued heavy snow warnings for the country’s central and western areas.

A cold wave advisory also took effect in areas including Seoul, Busan, Daejeon and Daegu at 9pm Saturday.

The advisory is issued when the morning low comes below -12 degrees Celsius for more than two consecutive days or when the temperature drops more than 10 degrees Celsius to below -3 degrees Celsius.

Today, the Seoul metropolitan government said it maintained the cold wave advisory and took precautionary measures against potential damage. — Bernama-Yonhap