Beijing: Severe weather warnings were in place across swathes of China on Wednesday as temperatures plummeted across the south and Beijing shivered in snowy conditions.
Authorities renewed an orange alert — the highest in the country’s three-tier system — warning that average temperatures could fall by six to 12 degrees Celsius by Friday in the south, where they are currently around zero degrees C (32 degrees Fahrenheit).
In some areas, temperatures could plunge by more than 20 degrees C, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said on social media.
State news agency Xinhua said the NMC had “called on local governments to take precautions against the cold weather, advised the public to keep warm, and called for necessary measures to protect crops and aquatic products”.
In Beijing, where temperatures hovered around freezing on Wednesday, residents awoke to find the capital blanketed in white following overnight snowfall.
Traffic slowed to a crawl on the city’s highways, while snow-dusted pavements proved treacherous for commuters and cyclists.
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Municipal authorities said up to 4.1 centimetres (1.6 inches) of snow had fallen in some suburban areas and issued a warning over icy roads.
“It is recommended that residents… stagger their travel, use public buses and subways, drive their own cars slowly and pay attention to safety,” the city government said in an online statement Tuesday evening.
Braving the cold temperatures in the capital’s historic Forbidden City, visitors — some in traditional costumes — marvelled at the picturesque snowfall.
“I am very happy to be here. This snow scene and the dragon lanterns give me a sense of prosperity,” Long Yan, a 55-year-old tourist from southwestern Sichuan province, told AFP.
“Auspicious snow signifies a bountiful year. This snow is a beautiful omen,” she said.
Beijing shut some highways on Wednesday after heavier-than-expected snowfall hit the Chinese capital overnight.
A cold spell has been sweeping through swathes of China this week, with freezing rain and snow expected to last until Monday.
Beijing authorities boosted public transport and shut eight highways, state television CCTV said. While snow in urban areas had stopped, light snowfall continued in mountainous areas.
Tuesday evening’s snowfall lasted longer and was heavier than forecast due to a rapid rise in water vapour in the capital after a confluence of humid air current from the south with a cold air mass that moved slowly eastward, the chief forecaster at the municipal observatory told Beijing Daily.
Almost 200 road sections were closed across the country due to the bad weather, CCTV said.
China’s National Meteorological Center is predicting subzero temperatures for the days ahead around the country’s central region, east, north, northwest as well as parts of the south.
