Another strong cold wave is expected to hit China's central, eastern and southern regions from Friday to next Tuesday, bringing snowstorms and temperature plummet to these areas, China's Central Meteorological Station (CMS) said Thursday.

The cold snap would be much stronger than the previous one, which caused up to 18 degrees Celsius temperature fall in China's northern regions from last Saturday. The fresh one is expected to bring icy weather to the country's southern areas, the CMS said.

Regions along with the Yellow and Huaihe rivers would expect heavy snow and rainfall from Saturday.

Areas along with the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers and the northern parts of the southern areas of the Yangtze River would experience snow, or even snowstorms in some of these regions.

Temperatures in the country's southern regions would slide by 6 to 8 degrees Celsius, and the rainfall would not retreat until next Tuesday, according to the CMS.

The previous cold snap hitting the country's northern areas has brought chaos, including flight delays, high way closures, traffic jams and halt in power and heat supplies.

(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2010)