Heavy rain to move northward this week

Heavy rain that flooded parts of Southwest China's Sichuan province last weekend will spread east and north to the Yangtze River region and North China, the National Meteorological Center forecast.

This bout of rain will cool southwestern provinces plagued by heat over the past two weeks and northern parts of the country will enter autumn, weather.com.cn said.

From Monday to Wednesday, the rain will spread from the south to the far north in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Between Wednesday and Friday, the Yangtze River region will be hit by the heaviest rain, meaning that the provinces of Hunan, Hubei and Anhui will see more precipitation than other areas, the center said.

It warned that the region needs to prepare for possible mountain torrents, mudslides and floods, while Beijing and Hebei province should be on alert for hail and thunderstorms.

The center said that large amounts of accumulated rain will lead to a swift transformation from droughts to floods.

From Friday to Monday, heavy rain hit the cities of Dazhou and Nanchong in Sichuan, with precipitation of up to 52.5 centimeters, the local meteorological service said. More than 440,000 people in the province have been affected by floods and local governments had evacuated more than 80,000 by Monday morning. No deaths, injuries or missing people have been reported, China News Service said.

The China Meteorological Administration and the Ministry of Natural Resources issued alerts for geological disasters on Monday for Chongqing and the provinces of Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan.

Elsewhere, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, eastern parts of the Tibet autonomous region and some parts of North China will see high ultraviolet intensity from Tuesday, the center warned, suggesting people protect themselves.

Zhang Tao, chief forecaster from the center, said: "Water vapor is abundant in summer. However, it is hard for large-scale precipitation to occur due to weak wind that can transport water vapor to replenish the rain.

"In this way, heavy rain usually hits a small concentration of areas and is more likely to cause disaster. It is still challenging to forecast accurately which spot the rain will hit."

The center said people should keep focused on weather alerts.