Early Super Typhoon Heading For Philippines

A super typhoon which has developed into a dangerous storm unusually early in the season is heading towards the outer islands of the Philippines.

Super Typhoon Maysak, which is gusting up to 184mph (296kph), has passed the Yap Islands and is moving west towards the archipelago.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre has put out an alert and warned that waves could reach up to 44ft (13m) in height.

It is currently the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane.

The typhoon is forecast to move over open water until Saturday evening, when it will make landfall towards the northern part of the Philippines sometime during the day on Sunday.

It is currently predicted to decrease in strength however, so that its winds should gust up to 125mph (200kph) when it reaches more populated areas.

A post on the blog of the UK's Met Office said: "This is a particularly strong storm for the time of year.

"The strongest storms in this region usually occur between August and October.

"Tropical storms, including typhoons, are reliant on sea surface temperatures for their energy, and as the northern hemisphere has just moved from winter to spring, this is the coldest time of year for sea temperatures.

"However, in the region where Typhoon Maysak formed just north of the equator, sea temperatures are almost always above 26C, which is the critical value for tropical storm formation.

"Furthermore, the sea temperatures are unusually warm in this area by more than 2C."

The Met Office said that Super Typhoon Maysak is the fourth tropical storm of the season in the western North Pacific.

It adds that there has not been a year with four or more tropical storms in this region forming before the end of March since 1965.

It comes just over a year since Super Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in November 2013 and killed more than 6,000 people.