South China has experienced its worst month of extreme weather since 1998, and more is on the way in April, meteorological authorities said on Tuesday.

Heavy storms hit Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Guangdong provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region for nine days in March, said Chen Zhenlin, a spokesman for the China Meteorological Administration.

The extreme weather claimed about 30 lives and caused direct economic losses in the billions of yuan, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.