Around 5h on 10/1, on the pavement of Do Xuan Hop street, Quach Hoang Kha, 24 years old, lit a fire to warm himself while preparing to sell food. "In many years living in Saigon, I have never felt this cold," he said.

Over the past three days, temperatures in the Southern region have dropped significantly, with many areas in Ho Chi Minh City recording 17 degrees Celsius, the lowest in 10 years.

Le Dinh Quyet, Head of the Southern Regional Hydro-Meteorological Center's Forecasting Department, stated that this cold spell is due to a strong cold air mass deeply dispersed from the North, combined with strong northeast winds and clear night skies, causing rapid heat loss.

According to a representative from the Southern Regional Hydro-Meteorological Center, January is the coldest month of the year; a deep drop in temperature is in line with typical patterns. However, a temperature of 17 degrees Celsius is considered rare in the past decade.

On Nguyen Dinh Thi street, a woman wore a warm coat, shivering in the rare cold.

At an apartment complex in Phuoc Long ward, two night shift employees had to wear warm clothes to ward off the cold.

From night until dawn is the coldest period, with temperatures fluctuating between 17-18 degrees Celsius. Many people venturing out wear additional raincoats to shield themselves from the cold wind.

At the park at the foot of Saigon Bridge, many people wear warm clothes, gloves, and tightly wrapped scarves while exercising.

By 7h, the sun was high, but temperatures remained around 18-19 degrees Celsius, with many people wearing warm clothes and scarves on their way to work.

On Nguyen Binh Khiem street, many breakfast vendors had to wear extra warm clothes. "With the cold weather these past few days, I had to buy a thick jacket just to be able to stand and sell," said Duy Linh, 36 years old.

A dog was dressed in warm clothes by its owner and taken for a walk around the Pham Viet Chanh apartment complex, former Binh Thanh district.

Outside the gate of Nguyen Binh Khiem school, Saigon ward, former District 1, parents dressed their children in many layers of clothes when dropping them off for class in the cold weather.

Thanh Mai, from Ben Thanh ward, embraced her daughter Khanh Van, 7 years old, on their way to school. She stated that she had to prepare extra jackets and wool scarves, worried her child would catch a cold due to the weather.

According to the Southern Regional Hydro-Meteorological Center, the chilly weather will continue in the early mornings and nights for the next few days.

Quynh Tran - Thanh Tung