First autumn snows for northern China after temperatures plunge overnight
Several provinces see mercury drop below freezing as cold front sweeps across the country
Parts of northern China have experienced their first autumn snowfalls after a cold front spread across wide areas of the country causing dramatic falls in temperature.
Several cities in Gansu, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Hebei and Inner Mongolia were affected from Sunday, with temperatures dipping to minus 4 degrees Celsius over the weekend, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Major cities including Jilin, Chifeng, Jinchang, Jiayuguan and Lanzhou experienced a sudden fall in temperature of around 12 degrees.
Normally at this time of year, average temperatures in Gansu province would be 17 degrees Celsius, and snowfall is particularly unusual.
This week’s snowfall was not the first in China: residents of Urumqi in Xinjiang in the far west of the country woke to find their surroundings covered by a few inches of unexpected snow in early August.