China readies for record-breaking winter as blizzards descend again
A second wave of snowstorms moves across the country, where the death toll from a week of wild weather already stands at 21
China could be in for a record-breaking cold winter as snow began falling across southern parts of the country on Monday morning, forecasters said.
With the death toll from the last week already at 21, a second cold front from northern China moved south, dragging down temperatures below freezing in central and eastern China.
The blizzards revived the spectre of a devastating snowstorm that plunged much of the country into a deep freeze a decade ago, paralysing transport and power networks for weeks.
The China Meteorological Administration said six provinces around the Yellow, Huai and Yangtze rivers could expect a freezing week ahead, compounding the fallout from blizzards last week.
“The second wave of blizzards is not as bad as the first one but it overlaps regions hit by the first wave. Henan and Shaanxi have been repeatedly hit by medium to heavy snowfalls which doubled the disaster,” the administration said, adding that energy supplies could be affected.
