According to the national centre for hydro-meteorological forecasting, the cold front will begin affecting parts of northeastern Vietnam late on January 20, before strengthening and spreading across the rest of the north and the north-central region on January 21.
From January 21, northern and north-central provinces are expected to turn cold, with severe cold conditions likely in mountainous and midland areas on January 22-23.
Temperatures are forecast to fall to 11-14 degrees Celsius across northern provinces, Thanh Hoa and Nghe An, and to 8-11 degrees in mountainous areas, with some high-altitude locations dropping below 6 degrees.
Hanoi is expected to see scattered rain from the evening of January 20 to January 22, with minimum temperatures of 12-14 degrees from January 21.
The weather agency warned that frost and ice could occur in northern mountainous areas, while provinces from Ha Tinh to Danang and parts of central Vietnam could experience heavy rain and thunderstorms from January 21.