Siberian cold front sweeps China, lasts for 3 to 5 days

Buildings are blanketed by black clouds in Yantai City, east China's Shandong Province, Dec. 4, 2008. The city suffered this winter's strongest cold front Thursday, with strong wind and sharp drop of temperatures. (Xinhua/Shen Jizhong)

A boy plays with snow in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Dec. 4, 2008. The heaviest snowfall and strongest cold front this winter hit Liaoning Province along with many parts of the country since Dec. 3 and brought down the temperatures to between minus 8 and minus 22 degrees Celsius in Shenyang on Dec. 4. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

A girl walks on his way home in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, Dec. 4, 2008. Anhui Province will be affected in the coming one or two days by this winter's strongest cold front sweeping the north of China on Dec. 3-4, and the lowest temperature will plunge below freezing. (Xinhua/Li Jian)

BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- China's coldest weather so far this winter, brought in by a Siberian cold front, was forecast to last three to five days throughout much of the country, said the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) on Thursday.

He Lifu, CMA's top weather forecaster, said almost all of the country, except for Tibet Autonomous Region, had been affected by the strongest cold front this winter. Some regions recorded temperatures of minus 20 degrees Celsius.

A snowstorm hit the northeastern provinces of Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang Wednesday and Thursday. Expressways were closed and there were several vehicular accidents.

He advised people of carbon monoxide poisoning while heating their homes and urged them to protect grain and livestock.