A strong cold snap will hit central and eastern parts of China before Wednesday, bringing snow or rain and a drop in temperatures of up to 8?C, the National Meteorological Center forecasted on Monday.

In the coming two days, snow and rain are expected to hit the Tibet autonomous region, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and Hebei provinces, while strong winds caused by the cold front will bring a dust storm to the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Gansu province.

Mild to heavy rains will hit Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, while the northeastern part of the country will see snow and rain.

After the severe sandstorm on Saturday, Beijing will see mild rain on Monday evening, the Beijing meteorological bureau said.

The temperature may fall further from March 16 to 18 with a new cold snap expected, the National Meteorological Center said.

The gales caused by the cold snap may bring dusty weather to northern China once again this spring.