Shanghai Daily news

The city is blanketed by snow for the second weekend in a row.

Shanghai's Bureau of Meteorology predicted that up to 10 centimeters of snow could fall between yesterday afternoon and this morning.

Its forecast appears to be spot-on. There was a steady fall as Shanghai Daily went to press early this morning and the city's rooftops resembled a sea of white.

The bureau yesterday updated a yellow snowstorm alert issued at 1:36pm to orange - the second-highest level - at 5pm.

Government departments have been warned to be prepared for the worst as the heavy snow is certain to cause traffic jams and an increase in accidents.

The snow is expected to taper off this afternoon and gradually stop tonight. The big chill will continue under the influence of a northern cold front tomorrow and Monday - and the bureau forecasts more snow next week, beginning on Tuesday.

Temperatures will see highs ranging between two to four degrees Celsius, after lows of between two degrees below zero to one degree.

The city's road, rail and air-transport systems were still running normally late yesterday. The two long-distance train stations sent away 187,000 people on Thursday.

Railway and maritime carriers are working around the clock to increase thermal coal supplies to Shanghai and nearby cities that face power shortages amid heavy demand.