Heavy rain is expected to fall on southern China over the next 24 hours, offering relief to the country's drought-hit regions, China's meteorological authority said on Sunday.

Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guangdong Province and regions south of the Yangtze River will be hit by storm, or even hailstone, the National Meteorological Center said in a statement posted on its website.

The drought-hit regions in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River will see a precipitation of 5 to 30 mm, the statement said.

Light to moderate rain is forecasted for parts of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, northeast China and most areas south to the Huaihe River over the next 24 hours.

Besides, Songda, this year's second tropical storm, has formed on the northwestern Pacific Ocean early Sunday morning. It is expected to move northwestward at 15 km per hour, but it will not impact the country's sea areas in the coming three days, the statement said.