A cold spell started sweeping over central China on Saturday and will continue moving east over the next three days, bringing an end to the recent fog, said China's meteorological authorities on Sunday.

Temperatures in the central parts of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and most parts of northeast China will fall by eight to fourteen degrees Celsius, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

Snow and rainfall will widely cover the northeastern China, and some parts of Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces will face heavy snow.

The cold front will also bring rainfall to the country's central and eastern Yangtze valley regions, and some parts of Hunan, Hubei, Henan and Anhui provinces will get hit by heavy rains, the NMC said.

The sharp drop of temperature will bring the "real winter" -- with an average temperature of less than ten degrees Celsius for more than five days in a row -- to most parts of the northeast, according to the NMC.

The cold front lowered the temperature significantly in Beijing on Sunday, with strong gales and drizzle ending four consecutive days of smog that had shrouded the capital city.

Meteorologists said the wind speed might peak at 39 km per hour and will continue until Monday.

While Beijing's highest temperature on Sunday and Monday will remain at 16 degrees Celsius, night temperatures will drop sharply by seven to 10 degrees, experts said, with the lowest temperature expected Monday night at three degrees Celsius.

The effects of the cold front are expected to end on Oct. 25, according to the NMC.