HARBIN: A heavy snow has delayed more than 60 flights and caused highway closure in northeast China provinces Wednesday, local authorities said.

More than 200 passenger buses have suspended services and four highways were closed in Heilongjiang province due to an overnight snow, according to the provincial transport department.

The Taiping International Airport in the provincial capital of Harbin was closed for about four hours. The provincial meteorological station said the precipitation on Wednesday had reached 4 mm and the temperature was expected to fall to minus 24 degrees Celsius Friday.

Nine flights from cities including Beijing, Wuhan, Nanjing and Haikou, to Changchun, capital of Jilin province, had to land in alternate airports as Changchun's Longjia International Airport was closed at 12:40 pm due to heavy ice on the runway.

Thousands of passengers were stranded as 27 flights from Changchun were delayed at the airport, which would not open until 8 am Thursday, said a spokesman with the airport.