China issues blue alert for heavy rain in eastern, southern regions

Beijing: China's meteorological agency on Saturday issued a blue alert for heavy rain in the country's eastern and southern regions.

From Saturday to Sunday, heavy rain is expected in a vast part between the Yellow River and the Huaihe River, as well as parts of Hainan and Guangdong provinces, the National Meteorological Centre said.

Provinces of Anhui, Shandong, Jiangsu and Hainan may see torrential rain of up to 140 mm in 24 hours, reports Xinhua news agency.

The centre cautioned that local governments should take measures against storms, cut off outdoor power supplies in dangerous regions and prevent potential disasters, including mountain floods and landslides.

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