Temperatures in Guangdong have fallen so dramatically that some areas in the province saw rare snowfall on Monday, according to multiple media reports.
If it falls at all, snow in Guangdong almost always occurs in the cooler, northern part of the province. However, this was not the case on Monday, when snow blanketed high ground just 80 kilometres from the provincial capital Guangzhou – in the province’s far south.
In Guangzhou, the mercury fell to a low of 8°C, after weeks of double-digit temperatures.
The last recorded case of snowfall in Guangzhou was in 2016, which was 67 years after the previous instance.
[See more: Macao’s elderly are struggling in the cold weather]
Guangdong is not the only province in China to be gripped by extremely cold weather. In the northern and central parts of the country, blizzard alerts were issued in Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan last week.
The severe snowfall and freezing temperatures have disrupted schools and businesses and posed a hazard to transport. Last week, more than 500 people were sent to hospital after two trains collided in Beijing during heavy snowfall.
Macao’s temperature also dropped significantly over the weekend, with the weather plummeting to a low of 9.1°C last Sunday morning – the lowest recorded since the start of winter. However, forecasters say the city’s temperature will warm up towards the end of December.
