Hong Kong will remain cold for the time being, with the observatory saying on Tuesday that the winter monsoon will slightly moderate during the weekend.

The current cold snap is expected to last until Friday.

The observatory said the low temperature will be about 11 to 12 degrees Celsius in the urban areas, and it'll be a bit colder in the New Territories.

"We expect the monsoon to start moderating slightly during the weekend to early next week and temperatures to rise," senior scientific officer Tong Yu-fai told RTHK.

"But the public should be aware that even though temperatures are rising, it will remain cold in the morning."

Tong said conditions would also be very dry under the monsoon and temperature ranges would be wide.

For instance, the mercury can reach up to 19 degrees at midday but drop to 11 degrees when the sun sets.

He also said temperatures would drop to 12 degrees or below for between nine and 17 days this winter and early spring.

While that number of cold-weather days was near normal, Tong pointed out that there had only been seven cold-weather days last year.

Family doctor Lam Wing-wo told the same show that more people had been unwell as a result of the change in weather.

Apart from symptoms such as coughing and joint pain, a number of patients had complained of upset stomachs with the cold weather having lowered their immunity.

"They would have diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach aches. This might be due to the food they had over the holiday," he said.

"We are worried that given the cold weather.... when people gather for meals, it can easily lead to gastroenteritis when hygiene is not properly maintained."

Lam said that those suffer from cardiovascular diseases in particular should keep warm as the cold weather can trigger an attack.
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Last updated: 2026-01-06 HKT 18:14