Temperatures in Hong Kong are expected to sharply dip from Tuesday to fall to as low as 12 degrees Celsius the next day due to an intense winter monsoon, according to the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO).

A fine and relatively warm weather, brought by a dry northeast monsoon, would persist until early next week.

But the intense winter monsoon is expected to start affecting southern China gradually next Tuesday, when winds will strengthen. Temperatures will fall appreciably that night, said the forecaster.

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It will become cold progressively with minimum temperatures of around 12 degrees Celsius in the following couple of days, the HKO said.

Temperatures next Wednesday will range between 12 and 17 degrees Celsius, with warmer conditions expected to return by the weekend, it added.

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Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Nokaen has intensified into a severe tropical storm.

“At 4 pm (on Saturday), Nokaen was centered about 390 kilometers east of Manila. It is forecast to move north at about 10km per hour, lingering over the seas east of the Philippines,” the observatory said in a weather update on Saturday.