BEIJING, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Moderate to severe smog will blanket parts of north China during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday due to disappearing wind and rising humidity, the Ministry of Environmental Protection has said.

The affected areas include central and south of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, west of Shandong Province and most of Henan Province.

Smog will increase between Feb. 15 to 17 before getting lighter on Feb. 18 to 19. Pollution will ease from Feb. 20 as wind arrives.

Pollution will hit Beijing from Feb. 15 to 18. Severe pollution is expected on the evening of Feb. 15 and will continue on Feb. 16 due to the temporary lifting of the ban on fireworks.

Beijing and surrounding areas reported better air quality in the first month of 2018 as major air pollutants plummeted, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said in a statement Monday.

In 13 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, "good air" days accounted for 64.5 percent of the total last month on average, up by 28.3 percentage points from a year ago, the statement said. Beijing saw the biggest improvement as the proportion of days with blue skies reached 80.6 percent.