The sweltering weather lingering in south China for the last month is turning out to be a disaster,said Yao Xuexiang, deputy head of the Central Meteorological Station, Thursday.

Drought was worsening in east China's Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces, central-south China's Hunan province and south China's Guangdong Province, with many small reservoirs and rivers drying up, Yao said.

These provinces were short of water and electricity, and the heat was damaging rice paddies and orchards.

The rainfall was 50 to 80 percent less than usual for the time of year in eastern and southern Zhejiang, central and northern Fujian and central and eastern Hunan, Yao acknowledged.

The heat wave was forecast to continue for at least another five days in south China, where some areas would have daily high temperatures of 39 to 42 degrees centigrade, Yao said.

Daily high temperatures over 35 degrees had continued in south China for about a month.

It had been over 40 degrees centigrade at noon for five days inLishui, Zhejiang province, while Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Yunnan provinces all reported record unusual high temperatures.

(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2003)