The year's first cherry blossoms were observed to have bloomed in Seoul on Friday, the earliest on record due to unusually high temperatures and long daylight hours in February and March.

The Korea Meteorological Administration(KMA) said this year's blooming comes a week earlier than last year and two weeks earlier than the average between 1981 and 2010.

The state agency added that it is the earliest to date since 1922, when data on cherry blossom blooming was first collected.

The KMA considers cherry blossoms to have started blooming when at least three blossoms are detected to have flowered on a branch of a designated tree.

While the country's famous cherry blossom festivals, which attract millions of people, have been canceled due to the coronavirus epidemic, the pink and white blossoms are expected to be in full bloom in the capital over the next ten days.