Cold and snowstorms in North China

The National Meteorological Center has downgraded the warning alert in northeast China from orange to yellow, the third-highest alert level in China's snowstorm warning system. But heavy snowstorms are expected to continue in the following two days.

Severe snowstorms are expected to hit Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, as well as northeastern regions of Inner Mongolia. Blizzards are strengthening in eastern Heilongjiang and central Jilin.

In central and eastern parts of China, temperatures are expected to rise within the next 48 hours. A cold spell will sweep Xinjiang to northeastern China, with heavy winds driving temperatures down by 6 to10 degrees in Gansu and Shanxi Provinces, as well as in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.