Snowstorms sweep across northern China

Snowstorms swept across a vast area of northern China on Sunday, disrupting traffic, grounding flights and slowing down bullet trains in Beijing, Tianjin and Inner Mongolia.

Six highways passing through Beijing were closed. Beijing Railway Bureau said some trains along the Beijing-Guangzhou, Beijing-Shanghai and Beijing-Tianjin high-speed lines are running at a lower speed because of the snow, Xinhua news agency reported.

In Beijing, thousands of people and hundreds of vehicles were sent out to clear the snow on roads. About 23,000 workers and 2,300 vehicles can be mobilised to clean the roads, authorities said.

At Beijing Capital International Airport, 150 flights have been cancelled.

Inner Mongolia issued an alert for snowstorms, calling for the maintenance of roads, railways and telecommunication facilities.

In Tianjin, all highways have been shut down and more than 20 flights have been delayed at Tianjin Binhai International Airport.

China's meteorological authority on Sunday renewed a blue alert, the lowest level in a four-tier warning system, for snowstorms in the north of the country.

The centre suggested affected areas take precautions as temperatures are expected to plunge.

In China's four-tier colour-coded weather warning system, red represents the most severe weather, followed by orange, yellow and blue.