Heavy snow has returned to large parts of central and southern China, which were hit by killer storms last year, over the past two days.

Beijing's National Meteorological Center said snow and freezing rain had been reported in many parts of Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Anhui and Guizhou provinces, and Chongqing municipality.

Zhai Panmao, a director of the center, said that although the freezing weather will last for some time, there is little chance it will be as devastating as last year's storms that claimed hundreds of lives and caused billions of yuan worth of damage.

With the annual Spring Festival migration already under way, several governments have issued weather warnings.

Since Monday, up to 7 cm of snow has fallen in parts of Hunan, prompting the local meteorological bureau to issue an orange warning for snowstorms and a red warning, the highest possible, for icy roads.

In Wuhan, capital of Hubei, snow had delayed about 50 airlines and stranded 2,500 passengers at Tianhe Airport, but operations were back to normal on Wednesday.

Several expressways in the province remain closed.

The provincial government has issued an emergency circular ordering all authorities to treat the situation "very seriously".

In response, the agricultural department has stockpiled 4 million kg of food, which will be released to the market as required to maintain price stability.

In Hunan, transport officials are keeping a round-the-clock watch on provincial highways.

Chen Ying, from the traffic police detachment, said: "Traffic arteries like the Hunan section of the Beijing-Zhuhai expressway will be closely monitored."