China has been hit by the worst storm in nearly 40 years that has left 18 dead.

Typhoon Rammasun, which has been classified as a ‘super-typhoon’, killed at least nine people and left five missing after hitting Hainan island on Friday, while nine people died later in the Guangxi region, according to state media.

When landing on Friday, the storm had already reached a super-typhoon level, and was the most violent typhoon landing in South China since 1973, the country’s meteorological administration said, with winds over 124mph.

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The super-typhoon has already wreaked destruction on the northern part of the Philippines, killing a total of 94 people earlier this week, and it is now headed for Vietnam.

China has ordered the highest level of alert and suspended hundreds of buses, trains and flights across the region.

Most of the people killed in the Philippines were hit by falling debris, while some of the six people that have gone missing are reported to have been at sea on boats, the BBC said.

But a new typhoon called Matmo is threatening to wreak further destruction on the affected areas. Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council spokesperson Mina Marasigan told AFP, with winds of up to 150mph.