Millions of people moved to safety as Typhoon Ragasa hits China

A super typhoon which has caused huge damage in East Asia, has made landfall in China.

Two million people were moved to safety as Typhoon Ragasa, the world's most powerful tropical cyclone this year headed towards Southern China early on Wednesday.

The storm has already impacted Taiwan, the Philippines and Hong Kong with strong winds, rain and high waves.

Local authorities in China say they are reinforcing defences in areas likely to be affected, and preparing for flooding risks.

Ragasa caused flooding in Taiwan

Described as the most powerful storm to hit the Chinese coast this year, Ragasa, the 18th typhoon of the season, made landfall in the city of Yangjiang along the coastline of Guangdong province at around 5pm local time on Wednesday (10am UK time).

To make landfall is when a storm moves from water onto land.

The maximum wind speed at time of landfall near the centre was around 89 miles per hour, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Observatory downgraded the storm from a super typhoon to a severe typhoon.

Homes and restaurants, like this one in Hong Kong, have been damaged by flood waters due to the storm

In Hong Kong, authorities raised the Signal 8 typhoon warning on Tuesday afternoon, before upgrading to the maximum level of 10.

Ragasa, called the "King of Storms" by China's meteorological agency - had wind gusts of up to 285km/h (177mph) at its highest point on Monday.

Thousands of schools were closed and flights were cancelled.

What is the difference between a typhoon, a hurricane and a cyclone?

Typhoon Ragasa, as seen from space

The scientific name for all of these storms is tropical cyclones which are powerful spinning storms.

Depending on where in the world they form, they have different names.

Storms that form in the Caribbean or North American region are known as hurricanes.

Those that form in the Far East, close to places like China and Japan are known as typhoons and those that form in the Indian Ocean are called cyclones.