A powerful typhoon has surged into China, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people from a coastal province after passing across northern Taiwan, killing at least two people, Belfast Telegraph said.

Typhoon Soulik disrupted transport and business across Taiwan, with emergency crews around Taipei struggling to restore power to 520,000 homes and remove hundreds of trees uprooted by the storm from streets and roads.

The storm then hit the south-east Chinese province of Fujian on Saturday July 14 afternoon, with winds of 74mph, according to China's National Meteorological Centre, down from the 101mph winds it carried across Taiwan.

About 300,000 people in Fujian were evacuated from their homes, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

In Fujian and Zhejiang, another coastal province, train services were suspended, flights cancelled and fishing boats called back to ports. China's weather service warned of possible floods and landslides.

Earlier, torrential rains buffeted large areas of northern and central Taiwan, with schools and businesses closed by government order on Friday.