HKO and SCHSA remind public to prepare for cold season

15 December 2015

The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) and the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association (SCHSA) today (December 15) remind the public to prepare for the cold season.

The Assistant Director of the Hong Kong Observatory, Dr Cheng Cho-ming said an intense winter monsoon has reached southern China. Under the continual influence of the associated cold air, the weather in Hong Kong is expected to turn cold significantly in the coming couple of days, with temperatures dropping to 12 degrees or below in the urban areas, and even below 10 degrees in the New Territories .

"Members of the public should take note of the temperature changes and get prepared immediately. The public may show their care for the senior citizens and persons with chronic medical conditions they know by helping them take precautions against cold weather to avoid potential health impact caused by low temperatures.", he added.

The Chief Executive Officer of the SCHSA, Ms Leung Shuk-yee, pointed out that the elderly are prone to be affected by cold weather. She called on the public to show more care for and provide timely assistance to the senior citizens in need.

According to the SCHSA, nearly 20 per cent of its service users are using the outdoor safety services. Among the requests of assistance by the outdoor safety services users, only three per cent on average requires for emergency support while the rest belongs to non-emergency requests. The figures reflect that elders nowadays are more socially active and they pay more attention to non-emergency support when they are enjoying outdoor activities.

With an increasing aging population in Hong Kong, the SCHSA not only makes use of advanced technology to ensure the well-being of the elderly, but also promulgates a new perspective of "Finding The New In The Old, Seeing The Beauty In The Old" by encouraging them to take part in more outdoor activities where appropriate. The weather forecasts issued by the HKO provide the much needed information required in support of such initiatives.

To encourage senior citizens to join more outdoor activities and take note of the weather condition around them, the HKO and the SCHSA will join hands to organise a weather photo competition entitled "Sky of Silver Age" for the elderly in early 2016. Details of the competition are available in the SCHSA's website: www.schsa.org.hk/en/lym/hko/index.html.

For the latest weather forecast and 9-day weather forecast, the public can call the Observatory's Dial-a-weather service at 1878 200 or visit the Observatory's website at the following links:

Weather forecast: http://www.hko.gov.hk/wxinfo/currwx/flw.htm

9-day weather forecast: http://www.hko.gov.hk/wxinfo/currwx/fnd.htm