Winter-weather will affect large areas of the country from Tuesday, said China Central Meteorological Observatory.

A Siberian cold front moving eastward from the eastern parts of the northwest to north and northeast China, is expected to send temperatures plummeting 10 to 14 Celsius degrees from yesterday's average temperature of 13-14 Celsius degree.

People in north and northeast China, who have been enjoying unseasonably warm weather, will find themselves reaching for their woolly hats and heavy coats against the strongest cold air current of the season.

The cold currents are expected to last until Friday in most affected parts, and to produce rain, sleet and strong winds in Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Jilin and Inner Mongolia, with temperatures falling 10 to 12 Celsius degrees.

It will become rainy, foggy and windy in eastern parts of Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, and Yunnan. Drizzle and moderate rain are likely to sweep across northern parts of the Yangtze and Huaihe river valleys on Thursday and Friday.

Gale-force winds will also hit China's sea regions during the next three days.

The cold spell began to affect Beijing yesterday with cloudy and windy conditions. Over the next three days, the temperature is expected to drop 4 to 6 Celsius degrees on average with moderate winds.

"Current temperatures in Beijing are 3 to 4 degrees higher than the average year," said a forecaster from the Beijing Meteorological Observatory.

The end of the warm weather brings the cold and flu season with it. "Flu and colds are just more common in winter months because that's when the virus spreads," said a Dr Wang, from Beijing’s Anzhen Hospital.

People are more likely to catch colds when the temperature changes dramatically, she said.

(China Daily November 23, 2004)