Temperature continues to drop as cold snap lingers

BEIJING - Most of China will see another temperature drop during the three-day New Year holiday, caused by a cold snap sweeping the country in recent days, the national observatory forecast on Wednesday.

In the next 24 hours, the cold front will drag temperatures down by 4 to 6 degrees Celsius in the eastern part of southwest China and areas south of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

Meanwhile strong wind will strike eastern part of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, north China and the region between the Yellow River and the Huaihe River, the center said.

It also forecast light snow or sleet in parts of southeastern Qinghai, northeastern Tibet, western and northern Sichuan and northern Guizhou in the next 24 hours, while light rain will hit central and southern Sichuan and Guizhou, Chongqing and eastern Yunnan.

Central Guizhou and southwestern Hunan will see freezing rain in the meantime, the NMC said.

Despite the continuous rain and snow in recent days, the country's major expressways remained unaffected as less vehicles were seen on road, said the monitoring and emergency-responding center under the Ministry of Transport on Wednesday.

However, it noted that freezing rain in southern China may result in icy roads in high-altitude mountainous areas on Thursday.

The center also predicted the traffic flow will improve on the last day of the New Year holiday, but traffic jam is still unlikely due to relatively weak traveling needs this holiday.