BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- A heat wave over northern China will continue until Sunday, the country's national observatory forecast Friday.

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) continued to issue a high-temperature alert Friday, with temperatures in parts of Liaoning, Shandong and Yunnan provinces as well as Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region likely to reach 37-39 degrees Celsius.

On Thursday, 19 cities and counties in Shandong, Hebei and other provinces saw record high temperatures for May in recent years.

From Friday to next Monday, cold air is expected to move into most areas of north China and bring readings down by 6 to 10 degrees Celcius, ending the recent hot spell, the NMC said.

South China will see heavy rain from Friday evening to next Tuesday, with the possibilities of showers and thunderstorms in some areas.