Shanghai has been experiencing torrential rainfall for five consecutive days, prompting authorities to issue weather alerts as residents have faced a continuing deluge of downpours and strong winds.
On Wednesday evening, skies above the city's Qingpu District darkened dramatically as gloomy clouds rolled in, before eventually the pouring rain began. The local meteorological observatory issued a blue alert for strong winds at 17:20 before this later was upgraded to a yellow alert.
Shortly after 18:00, the municipality's meteorological observatory released an alert for strong winds for its central districts, followed shortly by a yellow alert for lightning as stormy weather appeared.
The mega city has suffered from rainstorms for five straight days as of Wednesday, with intense showers arriving every afternoon.
China employs a four-level warning system for wind and rain -- with red representing the highest level, followed by orange, yellow and blue -- and a three-level system for severe convection.
Shanghai sees dark skies as heavy rainfall continues for five straight days
