CHINA’S weather observatory announced a blue alert Wednesday morning for snow storms that will sweep South China in the coming days.

    Cold air moving southward will bring heavy snow to some regions along the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers from Wednesday to Saturday, with some parts forecasted to receive up to 30 millimeters of snow, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

    Snowstorms will also hit southern parts of the southwest autonomous region of Tibet, the NMC forecast. Temperatures in Shenzhen are expected to drop to as low as under 5 degrees Celsius on Sunday and Monday.

    Affected by the cold spell, Central and East China saw strong winds and sharply lower temperatures Thursday. In some areas in North China and south of the Yangtze River, temperatures dropped by 14 degrees Celsius.

    In China’s four-tier color-coded weather warning system, red represents the most severe weather, followed by orange, yellow and blue.(Xinhua)