Typhoon Muifa intensifies, expected to make landfall in eastern China

Muifa has intensified into a strong typhoon, and is expected to strengthen further as it moves through the East China Sea, making landfall on Wednesday in the coastal areas of the Zhejiang province, the Chinese national weather forecaster warned on Tuesday.

The Central Meteorological Administration (CMA), which issued an "orange" warning, said Muifa's centre was around 490 km southeast of Xiangshan city in the Zhejiang province. Weather forecasters issued warnings for gale force winds along affected areas.

China has a four-tier, colour-coded weather-warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

The typhoon, China's twelfth of the year, will continue to move in a northwest direction after making landfall, and will then gradually weaken, CMA said.

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