"The situation is urgent," Zheng Guoguang, China's top meteorologist, was quoted as saying by the China Daily newspaper.

"Temperatures in most areas will be higher this year than in previous years, and typhoons are expected to arrive in larger numbers than last year."

Zheng told a Beijing conference that China also could expect flooding due to heavy rainfalls in the centre of the country along the Yangtze River, China's longest river and a regular source of floods.

The same is expected in northern China, particularly the Inner Mongolia region traversed by the Yellow River, known as "China's sorrow" for its own deadly history.

Zheng, who heads the China Meteorological Administration, blamed global climate change for the increased risks, the paper said.

China has been hit by a run of extreme weather nationwide in the past year, including severe typhoons, sizzling droughts and unseasonal cold snaps.

Authorities are taking a range of steps to prepare for this year, including the use of a more sensitive weather monitoring and warning system, said Xu Xiaofeng, deputy director of the weather service.

The administration also has launched nationwide inspections of satellite and radar facilities and other systems to improve readiness, he said.

The paper also reported that the water level in the Three Gorges reservoir along the Yangtze has been lowered in anticipation of possible flooding.

However, state media have previously said water levels were near record lows due to a recent severe drought in central China.

The Yangtze's worst flooding in decades occurred in 1998, when at least 3,000 people are estimated to have died and millions were left homeless.

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