Light showers fall on Beijing after 110 parched days

Beijing received its first rain in 110 days - a 38-year record - yesterday and will get more late this month, meteorological authorities have said.

"The seasonal rain can help relieve the drought, clean the air and reduce the risk of forest fire to some extent," head of the Beijing Meteorological Bureau (BMB) Guo Hu told a briefing yesterday.

Light rain began falling at 8 am yesterday morning when a warm, moist southwesterly airflow met a cold front, and the mild showers spread throughout the entire urban area in the afternoon, he said.