Morning temperatures in Seoul stood at -7.1 degrees Celsius on average for the first 10 days of December, the coldest in 56 years and the sixth coldest since 1907, when meteorological observation began.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the morning low was below -10 degrees for four days, and the average in the capital on Dec. 1-10 this year was the same as a century ago in 1912.

Early December 1944 was the coldest with an average morning low of -10.4 degrees, followed by 1910 (-8.8 degrees), 1956 (-8.5 degrees), 1926 (-8.3 degrees), and 1937 (-7.2 degrees).