Heavy smog shrouds north China

Heavy smog continued to batter various parts of northern China on Thursday and Friday, seriously disrupting local road and air traffic.

Smog hit Beijing on Friday morning with a visibility of less than 100 meters in some parts of the city, forcing some local expressways to be closed.

The Beijing Meteorological Administration issued yellow alert for heavy fog and orange alert for haze.

By 11:00 on Friday, 224 scheduled flights at the Beijing Capital International Airport had been canceled due to heavy smog and snow.

The airport is busy clearing snow and ice on airport tarmac to resume the flights.

The smog is expected to gradually disperse under winds on Saturday, the authorities said.

The smog also hit north China’s Tianjin Municipality on Friday.

The Tianjin Meteorological Administration issued yellow alerts for heavy fog and haze on Thursday.

Many expressways in Tianjin were closed due to smog, while local road authorities are busy resuming the traffic, while the hazy weather has not affected local flights.

Heavy smog continued to shroud central and southern parts of north China’s Hebei Province on Thursday.

Thanks to the cold air, the air quality in northern Hebei improved on Wednesday afternoon. However, the Hebei Meteorological Administration issued an orange alert for haze and a red alert for heavy fog in the central and southern parts of the province at 20:30 on Thursday.

At 14:30 on Thursday, Shijiazhuang City, capital Hebei Province, was heavily polluted with a PM 2.5 index of 342, with an orange alert for smog issued and traffic restrictions imposed.

Handan City of the province issued a red alert for heavy fog with a visibility of less than ten meters in some areas.

More than 10 expressways including Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao and Huanghua-Shijiazhuang expressways in the province were closed due to the hazy weather.

The sky in Hebei’s capital will clear up on Saturday, while the smog in the central and southern parts will weaken and disperse with a temperature drop of four to six degrees Celsius.