Hong Kong
CNN
—
Tens of millions of people across East Asia braved a severe cold snap Wednesday as subzero temperatures and heavy snow brought travel chaos during the Lunar New Year holiday, with climate experts warning that such extreme weather events had become the “new norm.”
South Korea has issued heavy snow warnings this week as temperatures in the capital Seoul fell as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius (minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit) and plummeted to record lows in other cities, officials said.
On the popular tourist island of Jeju, harsh weather led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights while passenger ships were forced to stay in port due to huge waves, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters.
“Cold air from the North Pole has reached South Korea directly,” after traveling through Russia and China, Korea Meteorological…
