Schools in Beijing and Tianjin closed and because the cities’ traffic was in chaos on the 6th. The capital received its biggest snow fall since 1951, then immediately followed by the harshest Siberian winds in decades. Temperatures for the 5th were forecast to plunge to –16 °C, a 40-year low, after a day-time maximum of –8 °C. The head of the Beijing Meteorological Bureau, Guo Hu, linked the blizzard-like conditions this week to unusual atmospheric patterns caused by global warming.
