Havana, Feb 19 (IANS): An unusual cold front chilled parts of Cuba Monday with the temperature dropping to as low as four degrees Celsius, Cuba's Meteorology Institute (Insmet) said.

The Caribbean island country, which usually enjoys balmy temperatures of 22 to 28 degrees Celsius all year around, saw the thermometer dip to single-digit at various locations early Monday due to a "cold, dry Arctic air mass" over it, reported Xinhua.

Insmet said on its website that 20 meteorological stations in Cuba registered temperatures lower than 10 degrees Celsius and it was "notably cold" in towns located in the central and western regions.

The lowest temperature registered was four degrees in Bainoa, 45 km west of Havana, while Cuba's capital registered a cold 11.9 degrees, a rare occurrence in a city where the temperature seldom drops below 17 degrees.

"In the western and central regions, the lowest temperatures were between 10 and 13 degrees Celsius and in the eastern region, they were 19 degrees," said Insmet, noting the temperature in eastern Cuba never goes below 25 degrees.

Cubans refer to Cuba as the land of "eternal summer" because temperatures are generally high all year around, with an annual average temperature between 22 and 28 degrees, and higher along its eastern coast.

Cuba has a moderate subtropical climate with two clearly defined seasons - the dry season from November to April and the wet season from May to October. The coolest and driest time is between December and February.