China under fog, snow warnings

EDIT CONTAINS 4:3 MATERIAL

Heavy fog and snow struck a large part of northern China shutting down highways and causing flight delays, state media reported.

Dense fog shrouded the airport of Shijiazhuang city, reducing visibility to less than 50 metres.

Twenty-one flights had been delayed by 10:00 a.m. local time with over 1,000 passengers stranded at the airport.

Over ten highways in the province were temporarily closed in the morning due to the bad weather, it reported.

Other provinces, including Shandong, Shanxi, in northern and eastern China were also affected by fog and snow on Friday.

Thirty-four flights were cancelled and 19 flights delayed for at least one hour at the Beijing International Airport.

Meteorological authorities warned most parts of northern China will see steep temperature drops and heavy snowfall over the weekend, while a large swathe of southwest and east China will be hit by rain, according to state media.