South Korea will come under the grip of the season's coldest weather later this week, with the morning lows dipping to minus 9 C in Seoul and minus 15 C in some inland areas, the state weather agency said Thursday.

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said that the freezing temperatures will be accompanied by snow, which is forecast to begin in central and western coastal areas Friday and spread to the greater Seoul area and almost all central regions over the weekend.

It did not rule out the possibility of heavy snowfalls in some regions.

Temperatures will drop sharply late Thursday night, when cold air from the northwest moves south toward South Korea, leading to the severe cold during the following three days, the KMA said.

In Seoul, morning lows will plummet to minus 5 C on Friday and minus 9 C on Saturday. Nationwide, the daily lows will range from minus 8 C to 4 C on Friday and from minus 15 C to minus 3 C on Saturday.

The weather agency forecast that the western regions, in particular, will see a lot of snow as the cold air will pass over the relatively warm Yellow Sea.

Snow will begin to fall in the central western coastal areas early Friday morning and spread to many other parts of the country before stopping Sunday morning.

It predicted 5 to 15 centimeters of snow in the southwestern provinces of Jeolla, Jeju Island and Ulleung Island, and 3 to 8 cm of snow in the central province of South Chungcheong and 1 to 5 cm elsewhere.

The KMA said temperatures will return to the seasonal averages beginning Sunday afternoon. Temperatures will then remain above the 30-year averages from Monday until taking a dive on Christmas Day on Dec. 25, the agency predicted. (Yonhap)