Jan 4, 2010, 17:36 GMT

   The largest snowfalls in decades blanketed Beijing and northern China before moving on Monday to South Korea, snarling traffic and leading to flight cancellations.

   The heaviest snowfall in nearly 60 years brought chaos to Beijing and much of northern China for a second day Monday while Seoul and other parts of South Korea saw their biggest snowfalls since the introduction of record keeping more than 70 years ago.

   The national weather service said 28.5 centimetres of snow had fallen by the early afternoon in Seoul, the largest amount in one day since records started being kept in 1937.

   Nearly 17 centimetres fell within four hours in the morning, but the snow abated later in the day in the hardest-hit areas, such as around the capital and in northern parts of the country.

   Snow up to 33.5 centimetres accumulated in parts of central Beijing while the outlying Huairou district reported up to 37.5 centimetres.

   Slush, snow and ice still covered even major roads by late Monday afternoon.

   A meteorological station in southern Beijing on Sunday recorded the highest snowfall in January since 1951, state media reported.

   Meanwhile, at least 100 people, mostly the homeless and elderly, have died in a cold wave sweeping across the northern and eastern regions of India, media reports said.

   The deaths have been reported since Wednesday from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh; the national capital, New Delhi; and the eastern states of Bihar and Jharkhand.

   The weather bureau said the cold conditions there would persist over the next few days.

   Temperatures in the Chinese capital plummeted over the weekend and were forecast to reach a low of minus 16 degrees Celsius early Tuesday, expected to be the coldest day in Beijing in about 30 years.

   Schools in Beijing and the nearby city of Tianjin were shut Monday while many expressways were also closed to traffic as the government mobilized 300,000 people to clear snow from the capital's largely empty streets.

   About 90 per cent of flights to and from Beijing's Capital International Airport were delayed or cancelled Sunday and Monday.

   One of the people affected was Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang, who was forced to cancel talks Monday with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao because he could not fly into Beijing.

   The main airports in Tianjin and the northern city of Hohhot, the capital of China's Inner Mongolia region, were closed Sunday.

   About 1,400 passengers were rescued from a train stranded by heavy snow in Inner Mongolia.

   Temperatures in Hohhot were forecast to drop as low as minus 23 degrees Monday.

   All flights at Seoul's Kimpo International Airport were cancelled Monday morning while long delays were seen at Incheon International Airport outside South Korea's capital because of icy runways.

   Cars and buses were able only to creep along the major roads in Seoul.

   The government of the city of 10 million people deployed 3,500 workers and 1,200 vehicles to clear the masses of snow.

   Temperatures were forecast to sink to minus 10 degrees by Tuesday morning in and around Seoul.

   In India, dense fog and temperatures dropping to the freezing point were registered in several places, including Amritsar in the northern state of Punjab.

   Uttar Pradesh was hit the hardest with a death toll of at least 72 after 16 more deaths were reported since Sunday, the CNN-IBN network reported.

   Temperatures across major towns and cities in Uttar Pradesh have ranged from 1 to 4 degrees.

   The states of Jharkhand and Bihar reported 13 and 11 deaths, respectively, over the past few days, the IANS news agency reported.

   The remaining deaths were reported from Delhi and the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

   Authorities in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand were arranging for shelters for the poor and issued orders for bonfires to be lit along roads for the homeless.

   Heavy fog also hampered traffic and delayed 100 flights and 22 trains across northern India Sunday.