BEIJING - A cold front will sweep north China with strong winds and sand storms, and heavy rain will hit south China over the next three days, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said on Monday.

The cold front will bring sleet or even heavy snow to Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from Monday to Wednesday. Gales will sweep parts of Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Gansu Province.

With temperatures dropping by up to 10 degrees Celsius, parts of the regions will see sand storms.

The NMC also forecast that heavy rain will pound parts of the Sichuan Basin, areas along the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers over the next three days.

Torrential rain will hit the eastern part of Hubei Province and the western part of Anhui Province, with precipitation of 50 to 80 mm, accompanied by lightening and thunderstorms.