Snow, fog disrupt traffic in northern China

People walk on a road in the Xicheng district of Beijing, Feb 20, 2015. A snowfall hit the city from Thursday afternoon.[Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING -- Heavy snow and fog in the northern part of China has disrupted traffic and delayed flights.

The Long Jia International Airport in Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin province, was closed on Saturday morning due to icy runways. The closure, until roughly 1 pm, affected about 40 flights.

Snow and ice also closed expressways in Songyuan and Baicheng on Saturday morning.

The provincial meteorological observatory expects more snow in the cities of Baicheng, Songyuan, Changchun, Siping, Liaoyuan, and Lijin in the next 24 hours.

Further north, blizzards swept through the cities of Harbin and Jiamusi in Heilongjiang Province. The expressway linking Harbin and Mudanjiang was closed, and traffic restrictions were imposed on a section of the expressway between Harbin and Tongjiang.

Snow has been falling in the northeastern province of Liaoning since Friday night, closing a dozen expressways. The snow is expected to persist until Sunday night.

Traffic in Beijing has been affected by poor visibility with sections of expressways closed to traffic.

In East China's Shandong province more than 20 expressway toll stations were closed on Saturday morning. Most had reopened by noon.

On Saturday morning, the cities of Liaocheng, Heze and Yantai issued fog warnings, with visibility of some areas dropping to less than 200 meters.