China raises storm alert level to yellow

Beijing: China's meteorological authority on Tuesday raised its storm alert to yellow for heavy rain across the country in the coming two days.

Storms will continue to hit the provinces of Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Henan, Shanxi, Shandong and Hebei, as well as municipalities of Chongqing, Tianjin and Beijing from on Tuesday morning to tomorrow morning, with up to 180 millimetres of rain expected in some areas, the National Meteorological Centre said.

The centre advised residents to take precautions against possible floods, landslides, mud and rock flows, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Heavy rain across the south since June followed by a powerful tornado and hailstorm in Yancheng City in China's Jiangsu Province left over 300 people were killed over 100 went missing.

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