About 170 flights were delayed or cancelled in Shanghai on Saturday because of thunderstorms, local officials said.

According to the website of the Shanghai Airport Authorities, more than 70 domestic flights and 70 international ones were delayed, while nearly 20 domestic flights and 10 international ones were cancelled.

Both arriving and departing flights were affected. No plans for the cancelled flights have been announced.

The affected domestic flights were those headed for Chengdu in Sichuan Province and Dalian and Harbin in northeastern China, as well as Beijing.

Four weekend charter flights between Shanghai and Taipei were postponed.

The local meteorological bureau has forecast rain from Saturday night into Sunday.

(Xinhua News Agency July 13, 2008)