Tropical storm Aere has lashed the north-eastern Philippines, killing at least nine people and forcing more than 100,000 villagers to flee from farming towns threatened by landslides.

Typhoon Durian smashed into the Philippines with heavy rains and winds gusting up to 165 mph, spawning flash floods and sending walls of muddy volcanic ash and red-hot boulders crashing down on several villages, officials said today.

The fourth devastating super typhoon in as many months has battered the Philippines, setting off a volcanic mudslide and widespread flooding that killed at least 109 people and left dozens more missing, officials said today.

Rescuers scrambled today to reach scores of people left stranded by a powerful typhoon that sliced through the Philippines on the heels of a rainstorm that killed more than 420 people with possibly hundreds more missing.