North China's temperature will drop by up to five degrees Celsius on Wednesday night as cold air from western Siberia sweeps in from the northwest, according to the Central Meteorological Station.

 

Gales up to 75 km per hour could hit parts of northwest China while winds up to 50 km per hour could hit other regions of north China, dragging temperatures down by three to five degrees, the forecast said.

 

In the next three days, cloudy weather is expected for the eastern part of southwest China, the south bank of the Yangtze River and south China, bringing drizzle or moderate rains to some parts, it said.

 

In the next ten days, high temperatures and dry weather would remain in eastern part of north China and northwest China, Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality in southwest China, where drought has affected millions of hectares of croplands and caused drinking water shortages since last summer.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 8, 2007)