Cold front brings snow, squalls to northeast

Heavy snow is forecast in some northern parts of China between Sunday and Wednesday, with temperatures to drop nationwide by up to 12 C by Monday, according to the National Meteorological Center.

People in some areas of the country have been forced to break out their down jackets weeks ahead of normal and in recent days, one of the hot topics on Sina Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, has been that Beijing has skipped autumn and jumped straight to winter.

Temperatures in the capital may fall as low as 3 C this week with strong winds. Heavy snow is likely in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Liaoning and Jilin provinces until Wednesday.

According to Shandong's Qingdao News, the front of cold air that has unleashed wind and rain has triggered an agricultural disaster warning and there is a chance that frost may affect the harvest of seasonal vegetables including carrots, ginger and cabbages.

Sharply dropping temperatures have drawn an abundance of marine life to a sea bank off Yantai, Shandong province, Beijing-based Life Times reported on Sunday. It quoted an alimentary expert as saying that sea creatures are sensitive to temperature and that the sudden coldness has caused them to move to warmer waters.

The cold front has brought strong winds and gales to most northern areas, an abnormal situation for October.

"The winds in the Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei provincial cluster and northeastern China are unusual for the time of year," said Chen Tao, the center's chief forecaster.

He said that the current cold front will have a greater impact on northern China than the one last week and that the 0 C temperature line is heading further south.