Rain and snow will hit south and west China over the next three days, with heavy snow falling in parts of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the country's meteorological authority said Thursday.

Light to moderate snow will fall in parts of the Yangtze River valley from Thursday to Saturday, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) forecasted.

From Thursday to Friday, freezing rains are expected in parts of the southwestern province of Guizhou.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau will likely see light, moderate and heavy snow in the next three days, the NMC said.

It forecast snow flurries or showers in the eastern part of southwest China, the southern part of the Yangtze River valley, most of south China and north Taiwan on Thursday.

The NMC said most of central and east China would see higher temperatures in the coming days but warned that temperature fluctuations could affect people's health.

It urged authorities in parts of southwest China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces to increase efforts to prevent forest fires on Thursday as temperatures are expected to rise in those areas.