BEIJING, Nov. 21 -- Beijing and its neighboring regions will get a break from the pollution as a cold front is expected to sweep across the region from Friday, dispersing the lingering smog.

The National Meteorological Center maintained its "yellow" warning, the second-lowest alert on the four-level scale, as the smog continues to shroud Beijing and Tianjin municipalities as well as Hebei, Henan and Shandong provinces on Friday.

The cold front, which will be in force later on Friday, will help disperse air pollution and improve visibility in these regions, the observatory said.

It will also bring strong winds and temperatures will likely drop by up to ten degrees Celsius in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and certain parts of the northeastern provinces on Friday, it said.

It also forecast rainfall for the central and eastern provinces during the next four days, with parts of southwest China, areas along the Yellow and Huaihe rivers as well as areas to the south of the Yangtze River, expecting light and moderate rain. Snow and sleet will hit parts of northwest and north China.