Beijing, Oct 16 (IANS): China's National Meteorological Centre (NMC) on Saturday renewed a blue alert for a cold wave, forecasting low temperatures and gales in vast regions of the country.

From 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday, temperatures are expected to drop by 6 to 10 degrees Celsius in parts of the northern, northeastern, central, eastern, southern and southwestern regions, Xinhua news agency reported citing the Centre as saying.

Some areas in the provinces of Shandong, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang will see a temperature decline of above 14 degrees Celsius, according to the center.

It also forecasts strong and gusty winds in most of the central and eastern regions in the upcoming days.

The Centre advised the public to take precautions against the cold weather and strong winds and suggested traffic and police authorities prepare for icy road conditions.

China has a four-tier, colour-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe weather, followed by orange, yellow and blue.