BEIJING, Feb. 3 -- China's meteorological authority on Monday issued a blue alert for cold snap that will sweep across the country's northeastern and eastern regions in the next two days.

In the next 48 hours, a fresh cold front will hit the northeastern and northern areas, as well as areas along lower reaches of the Yellow, Yangtze and Huai rivers, the National Meteorological Center said.

The affected regions will experience strong wind and temperature drops by up to 12 degrees Celsius.

The alert represents the lowest level after red, orange and yellow in China's four-tier color-coded weather warning system.