The year’s most powerful typhoon was grinding closer to Hong Kong yesterday, forcing hundreds of flights to be cancelled and shutting down shipping after pummelling island communities in the Philippines and Taiwan with heavy rains and fierce winds.

There is a warning a super typhoon, moving towards Hong Kong and China, could cause serious damage.

A wooden-hulled ferry with nearly 100 passengers capsized after being battered by big waves in the north-eastern Philippines, drowning at least 22 people and leaving more than 30 missing.