Beijing is to celebrate its warmest Spring Festival on record, according to the Beijing Meteorological Station.

The highest temperature on the eve of the festival will reach 10 degrees centigrade, making it the warmest festival eve since records began in 1951, it said.

In the following couple of days temperatures would range from zero to 12 degrees centigrade, without rain or snow, according to experts.

The previous warmest festival eve occurred in 2002 when the average temperature was 2.7 degrees centigrade. The coldest was in 1960 when the average temperature stood at minus 12 degrees centigrade.

However, experts warned citizens against the possibility of sandstorms owing to a lack of rainfall.

(Xinhua News Agency February 17, 2007)