Cold air to sweep down from north

Cold air is forecast to sweep across China, bringing with it strong winds and frigid temperatures, according to the National Meteorological Center.

The center said temperatures are forecast to plummet and wind is expected to blow from northwestern to eastern and southern parts of China until Thursday.

Temperatures are forecast to drop by between 10 C and 18 C in some northern areas.

Zhang Fanghua, chief forecaster of the center, said "Cold air is more likely to occur nationwide every November. This cold wave will be stronger than the same period in normal years as temperatures will drop drastically because in early November it was warmer than normal.

"Heavy snow will take over the Northeast and North China and freezing rain will sweep southern parts," she said, adding that starting from Dec 4, temperatures will go up a little.

In Shenyang, Liaoning province, one of the places to be hit hardest by the cold, it started to snow heavily on Sunday. The city's command center for clearing snow is on standby.

In the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, a strong cold snap arrived on Saturday with the Xinjiang meteorological center issuing a red warning for cold air, which is the first time the center has issued the highest level of such a warning since the warning system was adopted in 2008.

In the past 30 years, an average of 5.4 cold waves have occurred in China each year. Last years saw the highest number of cold snaps since 1991 with 11, followed by 2009 with eight, according to China Meteorological Administration.