BEIJING - A cold spell started sweeping over Central China on Saturday and will continue moving east over the next three days, bringing an end to the recent fog, said China's meteorological authorities on Sunday.

Temperatures in the central parts of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and most parts of Northeast China will fall by eight to 14 degrees Celsius, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

Snow and rainfall will widely cover northeastern China, and some parts of Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces will face heavy snow.

The cold front will also bring rainfall to the country's central and eastern Yangtze valley regions, and some parts of Hunan, Hubei, Henan and Anhui provinces will get hit by heavy rains, the NMC said.

The sharp drop of temperature will bring the "real winter" - with an average temperature of less than ten degrees Celsius for more than five days in a row - to most parts of the northeast, according to the NMC.

The effects of the cold front are expected to end on Oct 25.