A cold front is expected to sweep China from west to east beginning Wednesday, bringing strong winds and dust storms in some regions and dropping temperatures, the meteorological authority said Tuesday.

Sandstorms hit?Lanzhou, Gansu Province?last week. [gansudaily.com.cn]?

Most regions will see temperatures drop by 6 to 8 degrees Celsius over the coming three days, with the mercury falling by as much as 10 to 12 degrees Celsius in some areas, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

Meanwhile, strong winds are expected to whip up dust storms in the Tarim Basin in southern Xinjiang, the western parts of Gansu province and the central and western parts of Inner Mongolia from Wednesday to Thursday.

As the cold front pushes eastwards from northern Xinjiang, most parts of China will be hit by rain or snow, according to the NMC forecast.

Temperature jumped to the highest levels on Tuesday since the start of this year in many Chinese cities in northern, central and eastern China, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shenyang, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Jinan, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Hefei, Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanchang.