Powerful gales and heavy rain from Super Typhoon Yagi drenched southern China on Friday, with schools shut for a second day and flights cancelled as one of the strongest storms to hit Asia this year headed for landfall along Hainan's tropical coast.
Packing maximum sustained winds of 245 km per hour (152 mph) near its eye, Yagi registers as the world's second-most powerful tropical cyclone in 2024 so far, after the Category 5 Atlantic hurricane Beryl.
More than doubling in strength since devastating northern Philippines earlier this week, Yagi is expected to make landfall along China's coast from Wenchang in Hainan to Leizhou, Guangdong, from Friday afternoon.
Winds and rain were accompanied by powerful thunder and lightning across the region overnight and on Friday morning.