Drought hits hard in Henan; crops hurt

In Mengyin county of Shandong province, lack of rainfall has hurt crops, including fruit trees. It is estimated that yields will be reduced by 30 percent compared with last year, Beijing News reported.

Local authorities in the county are taking measures to alleviate the drought and will attempt to make rain artificially when conditions permit.

The meteorological centers in Henan and Hebei provinces renewed their highest red alerts for high temperatures on Wednesday.

During the daytime on Wednesday, temperatures in regions such as Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Xuchang and Luohe in Henan could rise to more than 40 C, forecasters said.

The heat is expected to continue in the northern part of Luoyang, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng during the day on Thursday, with temperatures also rising to more than 40 C.

Temperatures in Hebei's Baoding and Langfang cities, as well as in southern regions, may rise as high as 43 C during the daytime of Wednesday.

China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe conditions, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Qi Xin in Zhengzhou contributed to this story