Japan and North Korea sound warning as deadly cold snap sweeps across Asia
Extreme weather kills at least one person in Japan and more than 100 in Afghanistan while parts of China hit record low temperatures
Weather authorities in Japan and the Korean peninsula have issued warnings over freezing temperatures and gales that have killed at least one person, and stranded thousands.
Severe cold weather has already caused fatalities, havoc and record low temperatures across the region in the last fortnight, with at least 124 people dead in Afghanistan and record lows of -53C in northeastern China.
Large parts of Japan are now in the grip of the severe cold spell, with some areas expected to experience their lowest temperatures for a decade. On Wednesday chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said one person had died as a result of the storm, and two other deaths were under investigation. In the Korean peninsula, temperatures of -25C were recorded near the border between North and South Korea on Tuesday.
Heavy snowfall was predicted in central Japan and in the country’s north-east for most of Wednesday, while winds could reach up to 126 kph areas across the country, the country’s meteorological agency said. In the 24 hours to Wednesday morning, a record 93cm of snow was recorded in the city of Maniwa.
