Heavy snow causing havoc in parts of China

BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- East China's Zhejiang Province has seen 43 trains and 108 flights canceled Friday, in the midst of a round of heavy snow that is sweeping across parts of the country.

The north of Zhejiang has been hit by medium to heavy snow since Thursday, and some areas have witnessed snowstorms. Cities such as Shaoxing and Ningbo have seen 4 to 10 centimeters snow, with snow in some parts reaching up to 15 centimeters.

The local meteorological center said the snow would continue until the end of the month and a severe freeze was expected on Jan. 30.

In the southwestern province of Guizhou, 25 cities, counties and prefectures were covered with ice on Friday. Traffic restrictions were started in some sections of roads and expressways in the province.

The provincial meteorological center forecast that most parts of the province will be hit by freezing rain or snow from Friday to Saturday night.

From Thursday to Friday, Shanghai has seen heavy snow of up to 10 centimeters. Some bridges and road sections in the city have been blocked or introduced speed restrictions.

Several parks were closed, with workers clearing the the snow.

According to China's national observatory, 10 to 20 centimeters of snow were expected in parts of Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shanghai and Zhejiang on Thursday and Friday.