Super Typhoon Yagi live: China braces for biggest storm in decade as schools shut and flights cancelled

China is bracing for the arrival of Super Typhoon Yagi, expected to be the strongest storm in nearly a decade, as schools were shut and flights cancelled.

Yagi has intensified into a super typhoon and is already bringing high winds and rain to the Chinese coast. Its epicentre is currently located 610 km southeast of Zhanjiang City in Guangdong province.

Moving westward at 10-15 kmph, it is churning towards China’s southern provinces. It will have the biggest impact on Guangdong and Hainan , with landfall expected between Qionghai and Dianbai on Friday.

Authorities have suspended trains and boats in Hainan, closed schools across southern China, including in Hong Kong and Macau, and are considering raising Hong Kong’s third-highest typhoon alert.

Hainan’s Haikou airport will halt all flights from Thursday evening to Friday midnight, and beaches and tourist sites have been shut down.

Super typhoons rarely make landfall in Hainan, with only 9 out of 106 typhoons from 1949 to 2023 classified as such.

Yagi has already devastated the Philippines , killing at least 14 people earlier this week bringing heavy rainfall and landslides.