A strong cold front will sweep out of the northeast, bringing chilly winds, the possibility of torrential rains or snows, and temperatures that may drop to the coldest of the winter in many areas.

In Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang province in Northeastern China, temperatures dropped on Sunday to 31 degrees below zero, the coldest day since November. It could get even colder, the National Central Meteorological Observatory said on Monday

In the central and eastern regions of Heilongjiang province, and the eastern areas of the neighboring Jilin province, torrential snows are forecast for Monday and Tuesday, and temperatures should stay low, weather forecasters said.

Beijing also will experience a temperature drop, hitting the record low temps seen in November.

Many cities in the northeastern, northern and central regions have seen the temperature drop by 10 degrees in a day, the observatory said, adding that the temperature will keep dropping over the week, and by as much as 14 degrees in certain regions.

The front is expected to move eastward to China's eastern and southern regions, bringing strong winds, dropping temperatures and snow starting on Tuesday, giving cities in these regions their lowest temperatures since November, it said.

Temps in cities along the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River will stay 10 degrees below zero until next Monday. Some cities in Zhejiang and Anhui provinces will see the lowest January temperatures for the many years.

In addition, provinces in Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangxi in the east and Fujian in the southern region are likely to have large rainfall and some areas may have icy sleet, it said.

Starting Jan 26, the central and eastern regions will see a weakened cold front and temps should gradually rise to the usual levels around Jan 29.