BEIJING - Snow and rain will continue to sweep South China over the next three days, meteorological authorities said Thursday.

From Thursday to Saturday, light to moderate snow or sleet will affect the provinces of Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan and Yunnan, as well as parts of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Northeast China, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

Heavy snow will fall in western Hunan and the southeastern parts of Northeast China, while the central and western parts of Guizhou will see freezing rain, according to the NMC.

The NMC maintained a blue fog alert on Thursday morning, as visibility has been reduced to less than 1,000 meters in parts of Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and Hebei provinces, as well as Chongqing municipality.

Blue alerts rank lowest in China's four-tier color-coded weather warning system.