The violent super typhoon Neoguri is possibly the most powerful typhoon to strike Japan in 15 years. With expected wind gusts of 170 miles per hour and 75 millimetres of rain per hour the typhoon is battering the southern islands of Okinawa this morning.

Neoguri is forecast to continue northwards over land passing over the southern island of Kyushu and onto central Japan slowly losing energy along the way.

Typhoon Neoguri is carrying a huge amount of moisture. When it hits the mainland much of that will be released as rain, which could unleash flash floods and trigger landslides, our correspondent adds. Storm surge wave heights of 12 metres are expected raising fears of further coastal flooding.

Check out one of our earlier posts for a discussion of how these large cyclonic storms form.

Typhoon Neoguri, the first super typhoon of 2014. Source: EPA/NOAA

More information:
[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-28189409
[2] https://climateandgeohazards.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/cyclones-hurricanes-and-typhoons-whats-the-difference