Update | Beijing issues red alert as 'worst smog of the year' headed for northern China
Beijing issued its second ever “red alert” for smog yesterday morning, closing schools and ordering half of all private cars off the road from Saturday until Tuesday.
Weather authorities warned that the capital city would be shrouded in the worst smog this year in the next few days.
It will be Beijing’s third period of prolonged heavy pollution in less than a month.
But the Beijing Meteorological Bureau caused some confusion when it issued the red alert – the highest in the four-tier system – on Friday morning while the skies were still clear above the capital.
Wang Bin, an official with the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, said the smog would start to descend on the city on Saturday and reach severe levels in the afternoon as southerly winds moved in and brought pollution. Wang said the early pollution warning was aimed at alerting the public so they could take precautions as soon as possible.
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