This article was first published on January 25, 2016
By Naomi Ng and Ernest Kao
The city’s coldest weather in nearly six decades was expected to continue into today, prompting a suspension of primary schools and pleas from officials urging the public to avoid hiking the highest local peaks, where sub-zero temperatures left roads frozen and dangerous.
Minimum temperatures at the Observatory in Tsim Sha Tsui dropped to just 3.1 degrees Celsius yesterday, the lowest reading since 1957 and the third-lowest ever. Areas at higher elevations saw temperatures dip below zero.
The Education Bureau announced a suspension of classes at kindergartens, primary schools and schools for children with intellectual and physical disabilities due to the uncommonly cold weather.
Over the weekend, frigid and windy weather attracted throngs of ‘frost chasers’ to Tai Mo Shan, the city’s highest mountain, to experience the rare freezing conditions. But the outpouring resulted in at least 111 people taking ill or being injured yesterday.
