A prolonged dry over northern, central and eastern China is threatening both crops and water supplies. The?wheat-growing areas are suffering from drought with some seeing no rain for more than three months.

China's Shandong province witnesses the?worst drought in six decades. Beijing has also been experiencing its longest dry spell for more than 30 years.

In contrast to the drought, South China is freezing with continuous snowfall and icy rain, which has made life difficult for some people in remote areas, China Daily reported.

Experts said the abnormal weather - drought in the north and freezing conditions in the south - is partly due to the La Nina phenomenon, which refers to a drop in temperature of the sea surface across the equatorial eastern central Pacific Ocean. It is the opposite of the more widely known El Nino.