Cold weather sweeps south across China by Steph Ball ( bbc)
Weather fronts originating from Siberia and Mongolia swept south across China over the weekend, sending temperatures plummeting and bringing heavy snow falls across parts of the country.
On Saturday the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) issued orange warnings for the cold weather, advising residents to prepare for a sharp drop in temperature, heavy snow falls and gale force northerly winds. This extreme cold weather warning was the country’s second this winter. The first was issued early in the month when heavy snow brought widespread disruption to travel services.
Northern and eastern parts of China bore the brunt of the current cold weather. Shandong province was hit by heavy snow falls which closed major highways and delayed flights at Jinan International Airport. In Beijing, snow, strong winds and temperature falls of 8 to 10 degrees Celsius gave the city a real taste of winter.
The CMA states that while this cold front was not as severe as the first in early December, it arrived suddenly and brought with it a very sharp fall in temperature.
The extreme weather continues to affect central and southern parts of China on Monday though conditions will improve during the day.
