Chinese cities suspend schools, cancel flights ahead of super typhoon Yagi

Cities in southern China suspended schools and cancelled some flights on Thursday, as tropical storm Yagi strengthened into a super typhoon and barrelled straight for the holiday island province of Hainan.

Yagi triggered floods and landslides on the main Philippine island of Luzon this week, leaving at least 13 dead, according to official figures.

The tropical storm intensified into a super typhoon as it tracked west across the South China Sea, China's Xinhua news agency said, packing winds of up to 209 km per hour as it headed for Hainan.

"Hainan upgraded its emergency response to Yagi to the highest level at 11:30 am on Thursday, according to the provincial disaster management authority," Xinhua said.

The typhoon is expected to make landfall on Friday afternoon in either Hainan or neighbouring Guangdong.

Work, school and local transport services were suspended from Thursday noon (0400 GMT) in Haikou, Hainan's capital.

Hong Kong's weather observatory issued the third-highest typhoon warning at 6:20 pm (1020 GMT), limiting public transport across the finance hub.

The finance hub's stock exchange halted after-hours trading citing the typhoon warning, while 38 flights were cancelled at Hong Kong's airport Thursday.

Classes at primary and secondary schoools will remain suspended on Friday, the Education Bureau said.

"Yagi will remain at super typhoon intensity and skirt around 300 km to the southwest of Hong Kong tomorrow morning," the observatory said.