1st LD-Writethru: Cold front eases smog in north China

The heavy smog across parts of north China will ease Saturday thanks to a cold front, the national observatory said.

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) said a cold front has helped reduce the smog in north China, but some areas in Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces will still experience light to moderate smog on Saturday and Sunday.

As a result, the center called off the yellow warning for smog.

The country has a four-tier weather warning system, with red representing the most severe weather, followed by orange, yellow and then blue.

The NMC said the cold front will bring strong winds and temperatures will plunge by up to eight degrees Celsius in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, northeast and north China on Saturday and Sunday.

It also forecast snow for northeast China's Heilongjiang Province over the next 24 hours.

The center said an extreme cold front, the third to hit China this year, will sweep across most parts of the country from March 8 to 11, causing rapid temperature drops along with snow and rain in central and eastern provinces. Temperatures in some areas will plunge by up to 14 degrees Celsius during the period.

Affected by the cold wave, some regions south of the Yangtze River will experience record low temperatures over the same period and will be hit by rain and sleet, it said. Endi