Winter weather | Snowstorms sweep across north

Snowstorms swept across a vast area of north China yesterday, disrupting traffic, grounding flights and slowing down bullet trains in Beijing, Tianjin and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Six highways passing through Beijing were closed. The Beijing Railway Bureau said some trains along the Beijing-Guangzhou, Beijing-Shanghai and Beijing-Tianjin high-speed lines are running at a lower speed because of the snow.
In Beijing, thousands of people and hundreds of vehicles were sent out to clear the snow on roads. About 23,000 workers and 2,300 vehicles were set to be mobilized, authorities said.
At Beijing Capital International Airport, 150 flights have been canceled.
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region issued an alert for snowstorms, calling for the maintenance of roads, railways and telecommunication facilities.
In Tianjin, all highways have been shut down and more than 20 flights have been delayed at Tianjin Binhai International Airport.Bus companies in Tianjin said they added more vehicles to cope with the city’s transportation needs.
China’s meteorological authority yesterday renewed a blue alert, the lowest level in a four-tier warning system, for snowstorms in the north of the country.
Snowstorms were set to hit Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the northern provinces of Shanxi and Hebei as well as Beijing and Tianjin municipalities yesterday and today, with some areas expected to see snowfall of up to 12 millimeters, the National Meteorological Center said.
In China’s four-tier color-coded weather warning system, red represents the most severe weather, followed by orange, yellow and blue. Xinhua