Two women clean up snow in the Lugu residential area in Beijing, capital of China, March 14, 2010. A sleet hit Beijing Sunday morning. (Xinhua/He Junchang)

A new cold snap brought sleet and heavy snow to a wide swathe of northern China, disrupting air travel in the capital Beijing.

A total of 136 flights out of Beijing had been delayed and further 184 flights out of and into Beijing cancelled by 6:30 p.m., the Beijing Capital International Airport said in a statement.

Beijing received an average precipitation of 10.6 mm between 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, with the largest being 17.9 mm in Changping District in the city's northern suburbs, according to the local weather observatory.

The snow didn't cause severe traffic congestion as Sunday is not a working day and all highways through Beijing were open, local traffic police said.

China's central meteorological station issued an alert of cold snap March 12, just three days after the center canceled the last warning of cold wave.

"It will be a sunny day Monday and the highest temperature will rise to 6 degrees Celsius," said an expert with the Beijing Observatory Station.

The observatory warned that temperatures next week will change frequently, and citizens should pay close attention to weather forecasts.

Home heating which normally ends on March 15 in Beijing is prolonged for one more week and will be available till March 22. The freezing weather has also forced authorities in the northern port city of Tianjin to extend home heating for five more days.

Snow started falling Sunday afternoon in northeast China's Jilin Province, and would continue to sweep the province from the west to east beginning Sunday evening to Tuesday, according to the Jilin Provincial Observatory Station.

Because of the snowy weather in Jilin, six highways were put under traffic controls, and the airport in Changchun, the provincial capital, was closed temporarily starting 4 p.m..

In Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province in northeast China, heavy snow forced closure of several major highways on Sunday. The temperature was forecast to plummet 8 to 10 degrees Celsius across the province as parts of the province are expecting rains.

Influenced by the cold snap, Shanxi province experienced snow, rains and dusty weather from Saturday to Sunday, and the provincial meteorological station forecast strong winds to sweep the province in the coming 24 hours.