BEIJING - China's meteorological authority issued a yellow alert on Thursday, as a heat wave is expected to sweep across many regions of the country on Friday.

Friday daytime, temperatures will rise above 35 degrees Celsius in parts of northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Shaanxi Province, northern Hebei and Shanxi provinces, Chongqing and Sichuan Province in the southwest, and most provinces in central and eastern China, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

Some areas will see temperatures reach between 37 and 40 degrees Celsius, the NMC said.

China has a four-tier weather warning system, with red representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.