Typhoon Noru is threatening floods and damaging winds across Japan's main islands as it sweeps in from the northwest Pacific over the next few days.

Noru is currently located to the south of Kyushu around 350km to the south of Nagasaki Prefecture and staggering along at only 7km per hour, which is barely walking pace.

That has allowed parts of the Ryukyu Islands to receive some massive rainfall, not least in Naze where an incredible 504mm of rain was recorded in the 24 hours up to 06:00 GMT on Saturday.

The storm is expected to keep moving north and the eye of the storm is due to hit landfall in southern Kyushu at around 00:00 GMT on Sunday with winds of around 150km per hour and gusts nearer 185km per hour.

That would make it equivalent to a strong Category 1 Atlantic hurricane, packing very dangerous winds, and capable of causing extensive damage.

A large storm surge is also adding to the flooding concerns.

The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued warnings for high waves, which could reach as high as 12 metres at times.

The large swells and heavy seas are likely to cause flooding across the Ryukyu Islands, as well as the Pacific coasts of Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu.

Typhoon Noru is then forecast to move into the Sea of Japan by the early part of next week, threatening floods across parts of western Japan.