Freezing days ahead

Temperatures in northern and western China are expected to plunge sharply to below freezing over the weekend, meteorologists warned on Friday.

A drop in temperature of 6 to 12 degrees would bring freezing conditions to areas including the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, and the western part of Northeast China.

Gansu, Shanxi and Hebei provinces will see temperatures plummet to near freezing, the observatory said.