BEIJING: Beijing and several provinces in China will be affected by dense sandstorms that will severely affect visibility, Chinese weather authorities said on Wednesday morning. The National Meteorological Center issued warnings from Wednesday to early on Thursday morning for Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui and Hubei provinces.
Weather forecasters said that most areas will have low visibility, warning drivers on speed. The forecasters said that the sandstorms will gradually move south and then weaken.
China has a four-tier colour-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
Beijing, which has been issued a yellow sandstorm warning, has had a lot of dust and sand storms over the past several days, causing pollution levels to go up.
Photos on social media showed people riding bicycles through the city amid swirls of dust, with one showing a bike seat covered in sand.
According to the Beijing Ecological Environment Monitoring Center, Beijing has an air quality index of 500, which has pushed the pollution level to six, considered very hazardous to human health.
The city faces regular sandstorms in March and April because of its proximity to the massive Gobi Desert, as well as deforestation throughout northern China.