Firefighters rescue injured people from a collapsed house in Shunde, Guangdong Province of China.

A band of severe thunderstorms has grazed the southeast coast of China, bringing torrential rains, damaging winds and large hailstones.

The province of Guangdong was worst hit on Sunday, flooded by 63mm of rain, over a third of the monthly average.

The strong winds tore down trees and lamp posts as the storm raged through.

At least 18 people lost their lives and a further 155 were injured, in what appears to be just a taste of things to come.

April is the beginning of the rainy season which often devastates parts of the country.

Each year, natural disasters such as floods destroy an average of four million homes.

Whilst this was happening in the south of the country, the north was being battered by strong wind in the form of a dust storm.

The dust originated from Gobi Desert in Mongolia and blew across the northern parts of China on Sunday.