A cold front will sweep north China over the next 24 hours, bringing gusty winds and snowstorms to the region, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said Friday.

Heavy snow is expected for parts of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Liaoning province while snowstorms will hit central parts of Jilin province and eastern Heilongjiang province in the coming 24 hours, the nation's meteorological authority said in a statement on its website.

The NMC issued the blue alert for snowstorms Friday morning. China has a four-color snow warning system: red, orange, yellow and blue. Blue is the least serious level.

The NMC also suggested people pay more attention to traffic safety in the snowy weather.

Temperatures in areas along the Yangtze and Huai rivers in central China have plunged 11 to 13 degrees Celsius since Thursday. Further temperature drops along with winds are expected in North and Central China, the statement said.