The world's strongest storm this year, Super Typhoon Mangkhut, is blasting the northern coast of the Philippines with strong winds and heavy rain.

Reports say it broke windows and downed power lines on the island of Luzon before dawn.

More than four million people are directly in the path of the storm, which has winds of 200km/h (125 mph) and gusts reaching up to 330km/h.

Thousands have been evacuated amid warnings of 6m (20ft) storm surges.

Officials have warned of there may be "very heavy damage" to vulnerable structures.

They have raised alert levels to the second-highest - signal four - in Cagayan, northern Isabela, Apayao and Abra provinces.

The deadliest storm on record in the Philippines was Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, which also sparked category four alerts.
It killed more than 7,000 people and affected millions.

Super Typhoon Mangkhut made landfall at Baggao, in the north-east of the country, at about 01:40 local time on Saturday (17:40 GMT on Friday).

The storm - known locally as Ompong - is travelling north-west at about 35km/h (20 mph).

"In terms of strength, Typhoon Mangkhut is the strongest tropical cyclone of the year," the World Meteorological Organization said.

BBC Online

BDST: 0946 HRS, SEPT 15, 2018
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