Tropical storm Mitag strengthens to the east of Taiwan

Having formed in the northwest Pacific, tropical storm Mitag is expected to become a typhoon later on Sunday.

Mitag is currently sitting in the warm waters to the northeast coast of the Philippines, where authorities have issued wind warnings for the Batanes and Babuyan Islands region.

Located approximately 900km (560 miles) southeast of Taipei, the storm has prompted Taiwan‘s Central Weather Bureau to issue a maritime warning for ships moving off Taiwan’s east coast.

Packing sustained winds of 110km/hour (68 mph) and gusts nearer 140km/hour (25 mph), the system is currently moving north.

The eye of the storm is not expected to make landfall in Taiwan but there is the possibility of strong winds and heavy rain, with authorities likely to issue storm warnings for Yilan, New Taipei and Taipei.

Mitag is forecast to pass by to the east of Taipei on Monday afternoon before brushing over the coastal fringes of China’s Zhejiang province to the south of Shanghai. The typhoon is expected to peak in strength around this point, with winds approaching 150km/hour (93 mph) gusting to 185km/hour (115 mph).

The storm is then projected to move across the Yellow Sea and into the Korean Peninsula by the middle of next week.

Elsewhere, tropical Storm Narda has caused flash flooding along parts of Mexico’s southern coast. It is expected to run along the western coast and into the Gulf of California over the next days.

Meanwhile, Lorenzo has now become the strongest hurricane this far north and east in the Atlantic basin. This large and powerful system was a Category 5 storm and, even though it has weakened slightly, it is still packing winds in excess of 250km/hour (155 mph).

Hurricane Lorenzo is expected to pass to the west of the Azores around Wednesday, bringing damaging winds and up to 300mm (11.8 inches) of rain. It will then ease down into a deep area of low pressure as it throws some very wet and windy weather across the British Isles next weekend.