China issues yellow alert for rainstorms

File Photo: Photo taken on June 12, 2020 shows a road inundated by flood water at Tianba Town in Wuxi County, southwest China's Chongqing. (Photo by Wen Shiyi/Xinhua)

China's national observatory on Sunday issued a yellow alert for rainstorms as heavy rain is expected to lash parts of the country's southern regions.

Heavy rain or storms will batter parts of Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces as well as Chongqing and Shanghai from Sunday to Monday, according to the National Meteorological Center.

Some regions in Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei and Anhui provinces could receive up to 280 mm of rainfall in 24 hours, the center said.

According to forecast, a strong downpour will hit Guizhou and Chongqing, as well as some areas along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in the following five days, with rainfall likely to reach 70 mm per hour in some regions.

The national observatory warned local authorities to take precautions against flooding and possible geological disasters.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red being the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.