Japan Typhoon Shanshan – live: Four dead as 5 million people ordered to evacuate

At least four people have been killed, nearly 100 injured and five million asked to evacuate in southwestern Japan as Typhoon Shanshan made landfall, bringing strong winds, torrential rains, and landslides .

Factories have been shuttered and hundreds of flights cancelled as the typhoon made landfall on the southwestern island of Kyushu, with gusts of up to 123 mph, Japan’s meterological agency said.

Despite being downgraded to a severe tropical storm, it is moving northwards as slowly as 8mph, heightening the risk of flooding and landslides.

Some areas have already seen more than 700mm of rain, close to the amount London experiences in an entire year, with fierce winds damaging houses, overturning cars and uprooting trees, while leaving 250,000 people without power.

Three people were killed when a landslide buried a house in the central Aichi prefecture, while an 80-year-old man died when a roof collapsed some 150 miles west in Tokushima, according to NHK, which reported at least 94 injuries.

After striking Kyushu, the storm is expected to approach central and eastern regions, including the capital Tokyo, forecasters said – but the typhoon’s path is proving difficult to predict.