A man stands drenched through with rain in Beijing on Wednesday. Wang Jing / China Daily

The National Meteorological Center issued a yellow alert for heavy rain on Thursday in southern and eastern China, including Shanghai, which was battered on Wednesday, and warned that flooding and landslides were possible.

Storms are likely to hit regions along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River through Thursday, affecting Shanghai and the provinces of Hubei, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan and Guizhou, the center said in a statement.

Torrential rain is likely in some northern parts of Hunan, Jiangxi and Zhejiang, as well as southern Anhui, the statement added.

The meteorological center warned local authorities to monitor conditions and take precautions against flooding, landslides and other disasters.

Shanghai's meteorological authorities issued on Wednesday this year's first orange warning for a storm. China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Traffic during the morning peak hours was heavily affected by the rain on Wednesday in Shanghai. More than 80 roads and more than 1,000 houses were flooded. Several tunnels, including the West Jinshajiang Road tunnel and Moyu Road and Cao'an Road tunnel, were sealed off.