The nation's meteorological authority renewed a yellow alert for rainstorms and a blue alert for severe convective weather on Thursday, warning of heavy rainfall and thunderstorms across parts of the country over the next three days.

Through Saturday, heavy to torrential rain is forecast across parts of Sichuan, Chongqing and Yunnan in the southwest, Guangdong and Guangxi in the south, central Henan, Shaanxi and Gansu in the northwest, and Shanxi and Hebei in the north, with some areas expected to receive extremely heavy rainfall, the National Meteorological Center said.

Within 24 hours until 8am on Friday, the central and western parts of Sichuan Basin, eastern Gansu, northern Henan, northern Shandong, central and southern coastal Guangxi, and central and southwestern coastal Guangdong could receive rainfall of up to 240 millimetres, the centre said.

Some of the affected areas could see short-duration heavy rainfall, with hourly precipitation exceeding 70mm.

Northeastern Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, along with Inner Mongolia in the north, are forecast to see frequent, severe convective weather over the next three days, including thunderstorms, strong winds and hail. (Xinhua)


Edited by Aaron Tam