64-year mark as Xinjiang township freezes over

Temperatures broke a 64-year-old record in northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, plunging to a bone-chilling minus 52.3 degrees Celsius amid a cold spell and traffic disruptions following the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday.

Several parts of China are battling another deep freeze as people return from week-long celebrations of the year's biggest holiday. Just before it started, blizzards and icy rain had stranded travelers on railways and roads.

State media said Sunday's milestone in Tuerhong Township of Fuyun County was the lowest since records began in Xinjiang, surpassing the minus 51.5 degrees set on January 21, 1960.

The figure was just shy of the lowest national temperature of minus 53 degrees in Mohe, northeastern Heilongjiang Province, on January 22 last year.

Amid several days of cold and snow, 853 kilometers of roads have been affected in the region's area of Altay, CCTV said. That spurred highway authorities to send 47 vehicles and 86 rescuers to remove snow overnight.

Transport ministry figures show the regions of Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, along with the provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang have closed 43 sections of road and 623 toll stations, CCTV said on Monday.

National weather authorities raised the warning for freezing weather conditions to its second highest level, the Global Times newspaper said, with drastic falls expected through Thursday.

The most severely affected areas will include parts of Inner Mongolia, northeastern China, the central province of Hubei and Hunan in the south, it added.

According to the National Meteorological Center, temperatures will drop by 8 to 12 degrees in most parts from Monday to Thursday.

Parts of Hunan, Guizhou Province and northeast China could see temperatures plunge by more than 20 degrees.