Highest weather alert amid big freeze
SEVERE weather warnings were in place across swathes of China yesterday as temperatures plummeted across the south and Beijing shivered in snowy conditions.
Authorities renewed an orange alert — the highest in China’s three-tier system — warning that average temperatures could fall by 6 to 12 degrees Celsius by tomorrow in the south, where they were around zero degrees Celsius.
In some areas, temperatures could plunge by more than 20 degrees, the National Meteorological Center said.
The snowy weather forced railway authorities to suspend operation of some trains.
Xinhua news agency said the NMC had “called on local governments to take precautions against the cold weather, advised the public to keep warm, and called for necessary measures to protect crops and aquatic products.”
In Beijing, where temperatures hovered around freezing yesterday, residents awoke to find it blanketed in white following overnight snowfall.
Traffic slowed to a crawl on the capital’s highways, while snow-dusted pavements proved treacherous for commuters and cyclists.
With freezing rain and snow expected to last until Monday, officials in Beijing boosted public transport arrangements and shut eight highways, CCTV said.
“It is recommended that residents... stagger their travel, use public buses and subways, drive their own cars slowly and pay attention to safety,” the city government said in an online statement.
Braving the cold temperatures in the capital’s historic Forbidden City, visitors — some in traditional costumes — marvelled at the picturesque snowfall.
“I am very happy to be here. This snow scene and the dragon lanterns give me a sense of prosperity,” Long Yan, a 55-year-old tourist from southwestern Sichuan Province, said.
(AFP)