The government’s emergency response system was mobilized on Tuesday following heavy snowfall forecast in many parts of the nation, including southern parts of the Seoul metropolitan area.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said the lowest of the three-stage emergency response posture by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters has been activated, while the anti-disaster agency’s crisis alert has also been raised from “attention” to “caution.”

The measures were announced after heavy snow advisories were issued at 2 p.m. for southern Gyeonggi Province, the Chungcheong provinces, North Jeolla Province and the southern inland areas of Gangwon Province.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, over ten centimeters of snow may blanket southern Gyeonggi areas, the southern inland areas in Gangwon and the northern parts of Chungcheong by Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the interior ministry also heightened its cold wave warning from “attention” to “caution” on Tuesday after the KMA issued cold spell advisories for the whole country except for Jeju at 10 a.m.

A deep freeze is expected to grip the nation on Wednesday with morning temperatures dipping as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius in some parts including the capital. 

There are elevated concerns over air quality, with yellow dust spilling over to the peninsula from late Monday to the degree that almost all regions in the nation except for South Gyeongsang Province came a under yellow dust warning of “attention” or “caution” on Tuesday.