Blackened skies unleashed record-breaking rains on Hong Kong and the high-tech cities surrounding South China's Pearl River Delta, disrupting hospitals and shuttering schools and law courts across the Asian financial hub.

Parts of Hong Kong were brought to a standstill by flooding caused by heavy rains on Tuesday, after the highest-tier rainstorm warning was issued for the fourth time in eight days.Tuesday's "black" rainstorm warning in Hong Kong was the fourth in the span of just over a week,