At least 30 people have died as a result of the severe weather in the two provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui, and some 40,000 people have been evacuated.

Residents have been using rafts to move through flooded streets, reports said.

Earlier this week, the government said at least 349 people died in disasters caused by the weather in June.

Another 99 people were missing and the cost of the flooding was estimated at 20bn yuan ($2.5bn, £1.36bn), Xinhua news agency reported.

The most recent stormy weather has hit Jiangsu province hardest.

"So far, 27 people are reported dead, nearly 40,000 have been evacuated, and more than 8,400 houses have collapsed," Zhao Jie of the Ministry of Civil Affairs told the China Daily newspaper.

Three more people have been killed in neighbouring Anhui province.

Seasonal heavy rains and typhoons causes hundreds of deaths in China each year. But meteorologists expect this summer to be particularly bad, with warm Pacific currents causing more typhoons than usual.