BEIJING, July 20, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Tourists visit the Forbidden City in rain in Beijing, capital of China, July 20, 2016. Beijing's meteorological bureau issued an orange alert for rainstorm Wednesday noon. (Xinhua/Luo Xiaoguang)

BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- China's meteorological authority on Wednesday maintained its orange alert, the second highest of its four-tier warning system, for rainstorms across the country.

Torrential rain will hit parts of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning, Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan and Yunnan from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday afternoon, with rainfall of up to 240 millimeters in some places.

The National Meteorological Center advised people living in the affected areas to prepare for possible floods, landslides and mud and rock flows, and those that live in mountainous areas should move to safe places.

Heavy rain across China since June has resulted in heavy casualties, while a powerful tornado along with hailstorms in Yancheng City in China's Jiangsu Province on June 23 left around 100 dead.

China has a four-tier color-coded system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.