BEIJING - China's meteorological authority said Wednesday that most parts of China will continue to be in the grip of cold with temperatures remaining low over the next few days.

Snowy weather is forecast to continue in the country's southern regions, and freezing rain is expected to hit parts of Guizhou and Hunan provinces, the National Meteorological Center said in a statement on its website.

Parts of the country's northwest areas expected to see light snow or drizzle.

Meanwhile, fog will shroud most parts of the country's southern areas Wednesday morning, reducing visibility in parts of Yunnan, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces to less than 1,000 meters, while smog is forecast to hit some areas of Jiangsu Province, according to the statement.

In southwestern Guizhou Province, freezing rain has threatened the power supply in some regions as 124 major power lines were coated with heavy ice, according to the Guizhou Grid Corporation.

More than 2,000 maintenance workers were put in place across the province to prevent the ice from affecting normal supply of electricity, said a spokesman with the company.

The cold weather is predicted to linger through the week-long Spring Festival holiday, challenging operations of the power grid, according to the spokesman.

In the southern Guangdong Province, more than 100 counties and cities have issued warnings of low temperatures and icy roads by Wednesday, which is rare in the subtropical province.

Some counties in north Guangdong issued red warnings, the highest levels of weather alerts, according to the provincial meteorological administration.