Hot weather is expected to hit northern and southwestern China over the next few days.

The Central Meteorological Office the nation's top weather forecasting body yesterday said parts of the country could experience scorching temperatures of over 40 C in the next three days.

The affected areas include most of Shannxi, western and southern Shanxi, central and southern Hebei, part of Beijing and Tianjin, western Jiangsu, central and western Shandong, most of Anhui, Henan and Hubei, northern Chongqing and northeast Sichuan.

The Beijing municipal meteorological bureau announced that Beijing city's highest average temperature peaked at 35 C yesterday.

The temperature around some of the city's overpasses reached 40 C.

Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shannxi Province, set a temperature record on Saturday at unprecedented 42.9 C, 1.1 C higher than the city's second highest temperature, recorded in 1998.

The Central Meteorological Office has warned people in the affected areas to protect themselves against the hot weather.

It advised they take measures to prevent heatstroke and reduce daytime outdoor activities.

Meanwhile, rain that has lingered in the south for more than a month will continue.

The Central Meteorological Office yesterday forecasted that Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian will receive heavy rainfall.

According to the office, powerful storms will hit central Jiangxi, southern Zhejiang and northern Fujian.

The office warned the areas could experience further flooding, landslides and mud-rock flows.

According to the Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters in East China's Fujian Province, Yongding County in the west of the province suffered from extremely heavy rain yesterday morning.

Statistics show rain in the county reached 177 mm between 5 AM and 8 AM yesterday, the heaviest for 200 years.

(China.org.cn, China Daily June 19, 2006)