A BLUE alert for gales and a yellow alert for cold weather were issued at 5pm yesterday by the city’s meteorological bureau.

It had released a blue alert for cold at 8am yesterday.

Blue and yellow are the lowest and the third-highest in the four-tier system indicating temperatures dropping 8 to 10 degrees Celsius within 48 hours, with strong winds.

This year’s first cold air arrived in the city last night along with snow and sleet.

By 4pm, it had arrived in Shanghai’s neighboring provinces ofShandongandJiangsu.

The maximum temperature will drop from 5.1 degrees yesterday to minus 2 degrees today and minus 1 on Friday, with lows dropping from 3.7 to minus 6 degrees, the bureau said.

The lowest temperature in suburban areas is forecast to reach minus 9 degrees on Friday and Saturday morning.

Gales of up to 88 kilometers per hour are expected to strike local coastal areas overnight. Gusts of more than 60 kilometers per hour are predicted for parts of Shanghai.

There will be sunny days for the rest of the week and the air quality will be good, the local ecology and environment bureau said.

The cold wave will leave the city on Saturday.

Temperatures will rise to 4 and 5 degrees over the weekend, and there will be breeze. Lows will still be below freezing point, at minus 4 and minus 1 on Saturday and Sunday, forecasters said.