Almost 30,000 students have been allowed to stay home for the last three days due to unexpected heavy snowfall in two northern Vietnamese provinces.

Over 8,500 kindergarteners and elementary school students were asked not to go to school on Monday, according to the Department of Education and Training in Lai Chau Province.

Temperatures have dropped to record lows in many districts of the province, with snow seen in many areas.

The department has directed local education offices to be prepared to send students home when the temperatures go down to 10 degrees Celsius or lower – freezing cold in this hot country.

In neighboring Lao Cai Province, temperatures suddenly plummeted to as low as minus three degrees Celsius on Sunday and Monday so about 21,000 students could not go to school, state radio Voice of Vietnam reported.

Students in affected areas were requested to stay home today to avoid the extreme weather which few had thought tropical Vietnam would have.

Provincial educators have also been told to be aware of the temperatures in order to ensure no student would go to school whenever it turns frosty.

Over the last few days, heavy snowfall has been recorded in Sa Pa, the province’s most famous tourist attraction, which is very rare.

Forecasters have said that sharper frost will hit many northern mountainous in the coming days.