Brace yourself for a wet Chinese New Year

A wet Chinese New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are expected ahead with the rainy weather likely from through to the Spring Festival holiday, which kicks off on January 25.

This round of wetness will come to an end on January 17, when we can expect some sunshine. But the mercury will stick largely between 5 and 9 degrees Celsius.

Dry conditions will last for three more days throughout the weekend. Saturday morning will be cold with a low of 3 in downtown areas and the mercury will drop to as low as minus 1 degree in suburban areas.

From Tuesday, the rains will return and continue for at least five days. Temperatures will fluctuate from 4 to 11 degrees between Sunday and Tuesday.

Wednesday and Thursday will be milder a bit with the low climbing to 9 degrees and a high of 11 and 13.

Next Friday and Saturday, Chinese New Year's Eve and Day, will be soaked in rain. The mercury will start to go downward and fall to between 5 and 7 degrees on New Year's Day.

As it gets colder, the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau plans a drill on the issuing of red snow storm alert, the highest in a four-color system, and its emergency response for the first time in case there is snowfall or sleet during the Spring Festival rush.

Assuming that a snow storm was approaching the city on Saturday night, the Shanghai Central Meteorological Center conducted a red alert drill on Thursday for a snow storm and this was caught by an urban management weather forecast system within 10 seconds.

Guidance was sent to city organizations in five minutes. The message was also shown on WeChat, television, websites and mobile apps.

Local authorities including the transport commission, greenery and sanitation bureau, police, the education commission, housing and construction commission, the water bureau, airports and the Metro operator all responded to the alert and took measures.