The season's strongest cold wave continued to grip the entire nation on Monday and the temperatures are forecast to further dip later this week, the state weather agency said.

Monday's morning lows ranged from minus 18 C to minus 3 C nationwide, with Seoul registering minus 12.2 C, the Korea Meteorological Administration said, adding the mercury also plummeted to minus 10.2 C in the central city of Daejeon and minus 5.4 C in the southern city of Busan.

The temperatures will rise slightly from Tuesday afternoon before taking a steep dip from Wednesday afternoon, as the nation will fall under the influence of continental high pressure expanding from northern China, the KMA said.

Due to the influx of high-latitude cold air, the nation will be gripped by the so-called Arctic cold wave from the middle of this week, it added.

The agency also forecast light snow of around 1 centimeter in the capital area Tuesday night, while the southern resort island of Jeju and the western coastal areas are expected to receive snow of 2 to 8 cm. (Yonhap)