Freezing rain is an unusual phenomenon that occurs when falling snow encounters a layer of warm air deep enough for the snow to completely melt and become rain.

If the rain then lands on objects colder than 0 degrees Celsius, it forms a smooth, clear layer of ice.

The CMA said Anhui province in the east and Hubei province in central China were expected to be particularly hard hit by freezing rain.

An orange blizzard alert was also issued for central and eastern China on Saturday, with Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu and Guizhou provinces as well as Chongqing expected to be affected.

Orange is the second-highest level in the four-tier blizzard warning system and some areas could have up to 200 millimetres (8 inches) of snow.

The CMA said the rain and snow had sent temperatures in most parts of central and eastern regions below normal for this time of year, and from Monday, the mercury would plunge in the southeast as well.

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The warnings come just over a week into the 40-day Spring Festival travel season known as chun yun.

During this period, which began on January 26, tens of millions of people make their way back and forth across the country to see family and friends for the Lunar New Year, which falls on February 10 this year.

By Saturday, eight days into chun yun, more than 1½ billion trips on all forms of transport had already been made, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

But legions of these travellers have already been stranded as many train services to and from major cities have been disrupted by the winter weather, including in Shanghai where at least 39 trains for Saturday and Sunday were suspended.

In Wuhan, capital of the central province of Hubei, 159 train services were suspended on Saturday due to the extreme weather.

A weather-induced power failure stopped one train into Wuhan in its tracks, leaving passengers without heating for around eight hours before finally reaching its destination on Saturday morning, according to Guangdong-based Southern Metropolis News.

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Wuhan railway authorities said more than 100 extra rail services would be added when the weather improved.

The municipality of Chongqing also said it would suspend 14 trains on Saturday.

The snow and ice forced closure of more than a dozen highways in eight provinces and regions last week, including in Inner Mongolia, Henan, Hubei and Guangdong, according to the Transport Ministry’s Highway Monitoring and Response Centre.

Hubei and Anhui provinces also said they would close many tourist attractions due to the extreme weather.

The extreme conditions have also prompted Anhui and Hubei to ramp up preparations for potential disasters, with the Ministry of Emergency Management sending disaster relief supplies to the two provinces to bolster their stockpiles.

The CMA has warned that this year’s Lunar New Year weather could be the most “complex” since 2008.

That year a severe storm killed 107 people, stranded more than 5.8 million passengers and affected water and power supplies to more than 100 million people, according to CCTV.