Cold wave grips northern China as temperatures in south plummet

Powerful cold wave sweeps across China, bringing record low temperatures and gale warnings.

Gripping cold weather swept across major sections of China on Thursday while many areas in the south will see sharp drops in temperatures over the next few days, Chinese weather forecasters predicted.

The cold snap is widespread - moving from northern China where several provinces have already been hit with blizzards to central and southern areas like Guizhou province - and pushing deep into the lower reaches of the Yangtze River Delta area.

"This cold wave is powerful, later this week it will be a big move south," said meteorological analyst Wang Weiyue, according to CCTV state media.

Northerly winds have drifted into many parts of China and temperatures will drop, national weather forecasters predicted, with some northeastern cities such as Shenyang and Harbin clocking readings as low as minus 26 to 27 degrees Celsius (minus 17 degrees Fahrenheit) until Dec. 18, in what would be their lowest readings so far this year, according to the national broadcaster CCTV.

Weather charts and maps across social media revealed how rapidly the weather is deteriorating even in the south, with temperatures across swathes of southern provinces falling by more than 14°C or even 20°C.

"Finally know what it means to freeze purple," wrote a netizen on Weibo, a social media app, referring to the colour codes of the coldest areas in the country.

For a second-straight day several areas have seen record low temperatures. Parts of Inner Mongolia region, Shaanxi, Jilin, and Liaoning provinces witnessed temperature drops of more than 20°C accompanied by forceful wind gusts, China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) reported.