China Issues Blue Storm Alert

China has renewed a blue-level weather alert as strong storms and high winds are expected to affect wide areas of the country, the national meteorological authorities said on Saturday.

According to the National Meteorological Observatory of China, powerful winds are forecast to blow from Saturday morning through 8:00 am on Sunday across parts of Inner Mongolia, Shandong, Xizang, and Qinghai provinces.

At the same time, severe winds are expected over several key maritime zones, including the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, the Bashi Channel, and the South China Sea, raising concerns for maritime safety and transport operations.

Authorities have urged vessels operating in affected waters to exercise extreme caution during navigation and offshore activities. Relevant government departments were also instructed to implement preventive measures, with particular emphasis on fire prevention and transportation safety.

China operates a four-tier, colour-coded weather warning system for strong winds. Red represents the most severe alert, followed by orange and yellow, while blue is the lowest level.

Despite being the least severe classification, officials stressed that the current alert still requires heightened vigilance due to the broad geographic scope of the forecast storms.