A 61-year-old woman was killed by lightning in Shanghai on Tuesday, shortly after the local observatory issued a warning.

Yu Jinyun and her husband, Xie Baoren, 62, were struck by a bolt of lightning at 7:55 a.m. while riding a motorbike on a bridge. Yu died instantly while Xie was rushed to hospital.

The Shanghai Observatory issued a lighting warning at 6:46 a.m. and upgraded it at 7:27 p.m.. It also issued a strong wind warning.

Elsewhere, eight people died and at least 66 were injured when a thunderstorm that hit central China's Hubei Province. It affected about 350,000 people on Tuesday.

The disaster caused 25.9 million U.S. dollars (210 million yuan) in losses, with 10,850 houses and 22,666 hectares of crops destroyed.

The thunderstorm also cut electricity, water supply and road traffic. In the worst-hit Yuyang County, communications were interrupted for seven hours.