Rainstorms are expected across a large part of northeastern China, and will likely continue to wreak havoc the southern regions from Monday to Wednesday, forecast of the country's central observatory said on Monday.

Yunnan Province, Guangdong Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, some regions south to the Yangtze River and the country's northeastern area would experience heavy rainstorms or strong convective weather, including strong winds and hail, over the next three days, according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC).

Regions south to the Yangtze River and northern part of the country's southern regions are expected to see high temperatures above 35 degree centigrade over the same period, said the NMC.

Torrential rains and floods began to hit southern China since the end of June, and have battered 12 provinces, killing 75 people and leaving another 13 missing and 938,000 homeless as of 4:00 PM July 5. The floods have caused more than 13 billion yuan (about US$1.9 billion) in direct economic losses, said the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Sunday.

(Xinhua News Agency July 6, 2009)