Workers drain water caused by a heavy downpour on Thursday night in Bà Triệu Street, Hà Nội.— VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Prolonged heavy rains are forecast to continue hitting localities in three regions of the country for the next several days.

The rains that began on Thursday evening were triggered by a tropical low-pressure system that formed in the East Sea earlier Thursday, said the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting.

The prolonged downpours are also predicted to cause floods and landslides for the northern and southern regions.

The centre also said torrential rains would blanket northern provinces as well as provinces from Thanh Hóa to Quảng Bình on Friday.

At the same time, the northern, Central Highlands and southern regions are expected to experience thunderstorms bringing lightning and heavy rain along with tornadoes or strong winds and hail, especially in areas along the coast.

Authorities recommend that people living in these areas be careful, follow the latest weather updates and obey safety instructions.

Hà Nội was hit by a torrential rain on Thursday night, causing the temperature to drop nearly 10 degrees Celsius.

According to the centre, at 7am on Friday, the eye of the tropical low-pressure system was in the northern area of the Hoàng Sa (Paracel) islands. The strongest winds recorded near the eye of the weather system were 50-61km per hour.

The system is moving north at around 10km per hour.

The tropical low-pressure system might gain strength and become a tropical storm on Saturday, the centre said.

After that, it will likely move at around 15km per hour towards the eastern mainland of China's Guangdong Province before weakening back into a tropical low-pressure system. — VNS