The death toll from lightning strikes in east China's Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces has risen to 40 as local authorities announced more deaths on Wednesday.

The meteorological authorities in Jiangxi said 35 people, up from the previous report of 32, had been killed by lightning since Saturday night, including 12 people hit while working in the fields outside the city of Shangrao.

Lightning killed five people on Monday when they were building a tomb in Zhejiang.

Also in Jiangxi, four others were killed by falling roofs or falls during the storms. Another person drowned while swimming.

More than 50 people were killed during rainstorms sweeping China's central, eastern and southern parts over the weekend, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and reports from various provinces.

Rain began to lash northern and central areas of Jiangxi on Saturday night. Fifty-one counties received more than 50 millimeters of rainfall and 18 counties reported more than 100 millimeters as of Wednesday.

Local meteorological stations have warned that lightning storms and rain would continue on Thursday.

An average of 50 people die each year in Jiangxi from lightning strikes.

Officials with the Jiangxi meteorological authorities said most of the lightning victims were farmers who were not fully aware of the dangers.

The lack of shelter in the countryside was also to blame for the deaths.

Lightning strikes have killed 193 people from January to June 25 this year, 78 more than during the same period last year, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said on Wednesday.

It noted that the most obvious increase in the death toll was in Jiangxi, Yunnan, Sichuan and Chongqing.

One of the recent lightning strikes killed seven students and injured 44 others in late May when their three-room school house in Chongqing was hit.