In pictures: Philippines struggle for survival

Military personnel deliver aid supplies at the destroyed airport in Tacloban City, in central Philippines

Relief efforts to deal with the humanitarian disaster in the Philippines are being stepped up to try to reach the hundreds of thousands of people in desperate need of food, water and shelter.

An aerial view of a ship after it was swept onto land at the height of super typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban city in central Philippines

One of the most powerful storms on record to make landfall, Haiyan - named "Yolanda" in the Philippines - struck on Friday.

Typhoon victims queue for free rice at a businessman's warehouse in Tacloban city, which was battered by Typhoon Haiyan, in central Philippines

Tacloban, a city of about 220,000 people on Leyte island, bore the full force of the winds and the tsunami-like storm surges.

Typhoon survivors rush to get a chance to board a C-130 military transport plane out of Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines

Two C-130 military transport planes arrived in Tacloban early on Tuesday to evacuate survivors. Of the thousands waiting, only a few hundred made it aboard.

A Philippine air force officer hands out orange slices to typhoon survivors as they line up to board a C-130 military transport plane in Tacloban city, central Philippines

So far, only a small amount of assistance has arrived and the needs of those affected by the typhoon are growing ever more urgent.

Residents cover their noses as they walk past debris with stench of corpses along a road in Palo town, in Leyte province in central Philippines

Coastal roads going to Palo town from Tacloban have been destroyed. The stench of corpses buried under the debris pervades the air.

A man made homeless by Typhoon Haiyan sits at a makeshift shelter along a road in Palo, Leyte

Many survivors spent the night sheltering from pouring rain wherever they could - in the ruins of destroyed houses, or makeshift shelters.

A Filipino soldier stands in the damaged control tower of the airport in Tacloban, on the eastern island of Leyte

The international community is stepping up its aid efforts. The United Nations is releasing $25m (£15m) in emergency funds and US and British naval vessels are en route to the Philippines.