Weather forecasts have also predicted that high winds and rain could return to the Philippines on Monday

UN says 2.5 million people are in need of food aid and UNICEF have estimated 1.5 million children live in affected areas

Thousands of British nationals are thought to have been left stranded by the ferocious weather

170,000 Vietnamese soldiers are brought in as aid agencies predict 6.5 million people will be affected

Hundreds of thousands of people in South East Asia have been evacuated and moved to shelters

Storm has now passed majority of the islands and is set to move inland towards Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China

800,000 evacuated before gales whipped up 19ft waves that battered the islands of Leyte and Samar

Red Cross today estimates 1,200 people have been killed, 1,000 of those in the city of

Typhoon Haiyan was a maximum category-five storm with ground winds of up to 235mph


The death toll from one of the most powerful storms on record could reach 10,000 according to officials.



So far Typhoon Haiyan is said to have killed 1,200 people in the Philippines and left many more injured, but the figure could rise dramatically after the full devastation of the ferocious storm was realised.



According to the Red Cross, 1,000 have been left dead in the devastated city of Tacloban on the island of Leyte with a further 200 casualties in Samar Province.



Regional police chief Elmer Soria said he was briefed by Leyte provincial Govenor Dominic Petilla late last night and told there were about 10,000 deaths on the island, mostly by drowning and from collapsed buildings.



About four million people are believed to have been affected by the category five storm, according to the country's national disaster agency. This figure includes 800,000 who had to be evacuated before the storm struck.

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Loss: A mother weeps beside the dead body of her son at a chapel in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban

Bolster: Troops help prepare a house for the arrival of typhoon Haiyan at a village in the central province of Quang Tri

Strengthen: Soldiers and workers reinforce a dyke with weather experts predicting sea surges to hit the Vietnamese coast

Braced: Residents in Phu Yen, Vietnam, prepare sandbags in preparation for the storm which is expected to reach the coast on Sunday morning

Operation: A Vietnamese soldier carries a young girl from a lorry as villagers are evacuated to a safe place by the military

Protection: Local volunteers dig a trench to provide shelter from the typhoon which is heading for mainland Asia

Braced: Red Cross staff in Danang Province, Vietnam, fill sandbags in preparation for the coming storm

Wind: The boats have been moved onto a road as a safety precaution

Gusts: Palm trees show the wind has already picked up along the coast of Vietnam, prompting fisherman to move their boats from the beach

Joint effort: Villagers throw up sandbags to the roof of a house in Quang Nam province, Vietnam

Loss: Around four million people in the Philippines are said to have been affected, according to the the country's national disaster agency

Damage: More ruined buildings in Tacloban city, Leyte, can be seen lining the coast of the devastated area

Desolation: This picture shows an flattened area of the destroyed Tacloban city covered by debris and flood water

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It is expected to reach Da Nang province tomorrow morning before moving up the country's west coast and eventually making its way to the capital, Hanoi.

Haiyan is likely to be a category two or three storm when it hits the Vietnamese coast, but the Red Cross has warned some 6.5 million people in in the country could be affected.

The army has been brought in to provide emergency relief with some 170,000 soldiers assisting people after the typhoon hits.

Around 300,000 others have been taken to shelters in the provinces of Quang Ngai, Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue. Schools were closed and two deputy prime ministers were sent to the region to direct preparations.

Vietnamese authorities have begun evacuating 100,000 people as they prepare to face the full force of the ferocious weather. 'The evacuation is being conducted with urgency,' disaster official Nguyen Thi Yen Linh said from central Danang City, where some 76,000 were being moved to safety.

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About 15,000 British nationals are said to live on the islands and every year 65,000 visit tourist hotspots like northern Cebu Province and Boracay Island, both of which have been savaged by the storm.

The Foreign Office in the Philippines’ capital Manila has had no reports of British casualties but it is feared thousands have been left stranded as a result.

Weather forecasts have also predicted more bad weather could be on the way to the Philippines at the beginning of next week, with high winds expected to arrive on Monday.

The storm is now moving towards mainland Asian and is expected to reach Vietnam coastal areas on Sunday morning while humanitarian experts estimate the number of casualties will rise considerably.

Winds of up to 235mph and gusts of 170mph left a trail of destruction - triggering major landslides, knocking out power and communications and causing catastrophic widespread damage. Hundreds of homes have been flattened and scores of streets flooded.

Flattened: A Filipino boy stands among the debris in Tacloban, Leyte - one of the worst areas hit by category five storm Typhoon Haiyan

Death: It has been estimated by the Red Cross that 1,000 of the 1,200 people killed by the typhoon were residents of Tacloban

Widespread: This picture shows acres of flooded rice fields in the Iloilo Province, another area devastated by the typhoon

Weather experts predict the country will experience sea surges, strong winds and up to two feet of rain, triggering massive floods.

Chinese authorities have also issued a level three emergency response throughout the country, ordering fisherman to shelter their boats to prevent any damage.

It will be the 30th typhoon to hit China this year with the central and southern parts of Hainan and Sansha city expected to be hit by downpours in the next 24 hours.



Officials in neighbouring Laos and Cambodia are also taking precautions in an attempt to soften the impact of the ferocious storm.



Humanitarian experts say they expect the number of casualties to be 'massive'. A Red Cross spokesman said: 'We now fear that thousands will have lost their lives.'



The UK has sent a team of three experts to the country today to assess the extent of the damage, after which the Government will decide upon its response, a spokesman for the Department for International Development (Dfid) said.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening has also pledged £6 million worth of emergency aid.



She said: 'My thoughts are with the people of the Philippines, in particular those who have lost loved ones. UK support is now under way.



'Many thousands of people in remote, hard-to-reach communities have lost their homes and everything they own. They are living in the open and completely exposed to the elements.



'The absolute priority must be to reach them with shelter and protection as soon as possible.



'UK support will provide urgently needed access to clean water, shelter, household items and blankets,



'We are also sending additional humanitarian experts from the UK to work with the DfID team and international agencies, including ensuring partners are prioritising the protection of vulnerable girls and women.'



The category-5 super typhoon Haiyan – Chinese for ‘sea bird’ – smashed into the eastern islands of the Philippines with winds nearly 150mph stronger than the St Jude storm which struck the UK in late October.

Roofs were ripped from houses, ferocious 20ft waves washed away coastal villages, power lines came down and trees were uprooted.

Pragmatic: Villagers dig a makeshift shelter to protect themselves from the ferocious weather which is expected to impact 6.5 million people in Vietnam

Precautions: Fisherman anchor their boats in Vietnam in preparation for the arrival of one of the worst storms on record

Plans: An elderly woman is taken from her home in Danang, Vietnam, as the government begins to evacuate 100,000 people lying in the path of typhoon Haiyan

Properties: Volunteers place sand bags on the roof of a house Sheets are draped over the boats in an effort to soften the impact of the storm

From above: An aerial view shows badly damaged houses, including many without a roof, and blocked roads in the Philippine province of Iloilo

Recovery: A child is lifted to safety from a house in Tacloban, left, and two residents sit on the pavement in front of their home in the same city, right



Badly hit: A group of houses in a coastal community in Iloilo Province, central Philippines, that have been destroyed. Boats lie thrown along the coastline also

Capt. John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, said he had received 'reliable information' by radio that more than 100 bodies were lying in the streets of Tacloban on hardest-hit Leyte Island.



Regional military commander Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda said that the casualty figure 'probably will increase' after viewing aerial photographs of the widespread devastation caused by the typhoon.



Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras, a senior aide to President Benigno Aquino III, said that the number of casualties could not be immediately determined, but that the figure was 'probably in that range' given by Andrews. Government troops were helping recover bodies, he said.

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said it was too early to know how many people had died in the storm.

In the aftermath, Filipinos have taken to social media in an attempt to find missing loved ones by posting photos on Twitter.



Wreckage: An image from footage shot by Philippine broadcaster ABS-CBN shows a man carrying a child through the debris in Leyte, Philippines Flattened: The typhoon has ravaged most of the city of Tacloban and destroyed the airport

Ruins: A resident sifts through rubbish inside his ruined home, flattened by 235mph winds in the devastated city of Tacloban

Scale: This image shows the enormous Typhoon Haiyan taken by Astronaut Karen L. Nyberg aboard the Internatioal Space Station Satellite: A picture posted on Twitter by NASA at 8.00pm GMT shows the centre of the moving across the South China Sea towards the coast of Vietnam Path: Once the typhoon has reached the coast of Vietnam it is expected to moved towards the capital, Hanoi, with parts of Laos and Cambodia also likely to be affected

Loss: A pregnant woman, left, walks around the remains of her home while a young boy, right, walks past a crushed car in the destroyed town of Tacloban



Shock: A woman stands amidst the devastation. Flood water can be seen in the background covering most of the area around the demolished building

In Tacloban, a city of more than 200,000 believed to be one of the worst hit cities, corrugated iron sheets were ripped from roofs before crashing into buildings, according to video footage taken by a resident.

Flash floods also turned Tacloban's streets into rivers, while a pictures from an ABS-CBN television reporter showed six bamboo houses washed away along a beach more than 200 kilometres to the south.

Civil aviation authorities in Tacloban, about 360 miles southeast of Manila, reported the seaside airport terminal was 'ruined' by storm surges.

U.S. Marine Col. Mike Wylie, who surveyed the damage in Tacloban prior to possible American assistance, said that the damage to the runway was significant. However, military planes were still able to land with relief aid.



Temporary: Bodies of victims lay in a deserted chapel in Tacloban. A woman and child, right, view the distressing scene



Flooding: Locals in Coron, Palawan, walk among damaged buildings and flooded streets after the typhoon - one of the most powerful to ever hit land

Terrifying: Filipino children are seen in the city of Tacloban, Leyte. Behind them is a scene of devastation with homes flattened and debris lying in the street Picking up the pieces: Some residents try to go about their daily business despite the large-scale destruction

Tragedy: Bodies of residents can be seen in the streets of Tacloban, while one local is forced to transport a body in a wheelbarrow



Collapsed: A resident walks past her destroyed home - flattened by piles of wood and branches from nearby trees - in Tacloban city

Aftermath: A lorry that had been picked up by the wind and slammed in to a tree, is pictured left, while residents attempt to move their belongings across a fallen branch



Vice mayor Jim Pe of Coron town on Busuanga, the last island battered by the typhoon before it blew away to the South China Sea, said most of the houses and buildings there had been destroyed or damaged.



Five people drowned in the storm surge and three others are missing. He said: 'It was like a 747 flying just above my roof.' adding that his family and some of his neighbours whose houses were destroyed took shelter in his basement.

ABS-CBN also showed fierce winds whipping buildings and vehicles as storm surges swamped Tacloban with debris-laden floodwaters.



In the aftermath, people were seen weeping while retrieving bodies of loved ones inside buildings and on a street that was littered with fallen trees, roofing material and other building parts torn off in the typhoon's fury.



All that was left of one large building whose walls were smashed in were the skeletal remains of its rafters.



ABS-CBN television anchor Ted Failon, who was able to report only briefly Friday from Tacloban, said the storm surge was 'like the tsunami in Japan'.



'The sea engulfed Tacloban,' he said, explaining that a major part of the city is surrounded on three sides by the waters between Leyte and Samar islands.

Workers: Local Red Cross staff place sand bags on the roof of a house in Danang, Vietnam

Before he left Tacloban today, Failon said he saw people like a 'pack of rats' looting a department store taking whatever they could lay their hands on including refrigerators and TV sets. TV footage showed a group of men smiling as they walked away with a large ice cream freezer and other goods.



Relief workers today said they are having difficulties delivering food and other supplies, with roads blocked by landslides and fallen trees.



The Philippines is made up of more than 7,000 islands, so delivering aid can take up to two or tree days.

Red Cross chief Gwendolyn Pang said they struggled to deliver aid in the adverse conditions.

She said: 'We've had reports of uprooted trees, very strong winds and houses made of light materials being damaged

'We have put rescue teams and equipment at different places, but at the moment we can't really do much because of the heavy rain and strong winds. There is no power'.

Mrs Pang added the death toll, which is said to have exceeded 1,000, was just an 'estimate'.



Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said the enormous rescue operation was still ongoing.



He added: 'We expect a very high number of fatalities as well as injured. All systems, all vestiges of modern living - communications, power, water - all are down. Media is down, so there is no way to communicate with the people in a mass sort of way.'



Ben Webster, disaster response manager for the Red Cross, added: 'Preparedness is strengthening over the years as agencies become more proficient at preparing for disasters, technology is improving so we can forecast a bit more reliably, so it is getting better in terms of preparation.

'But there are still hundreds of thousands of families likely to have been impacted, and even if the loss of life isn't as high as it usually is, these are still people who need homes and livelihoods which will have been impacted by this huge storm.

Debris: Helicopters hover over the damaged area of Tacloban city, which was battered with strong winds yesterday

Destroyed: Typhoon Haiyan also badly damaged an airport, pictured, in battered Tacloban city - which could affect deliveries of essential aid supplies

Disaster zone: This map shows the trajectory of the devastating storm as it heads towards Vietnam

Washed up: Filipino soldiers disembark from a plane stopped at the devastated airport in Tacloban city, Leyte

Ruin: A man wipes his face while surveying the damage to one area of Tacloban. Branches from trees can be seen strewn across the land

Victim: A resident walks past dead bodies that lie on the street in Tacloban city, Leyte province

'The British Red Cross launched an appeal yesterday which the public can support. We have already released £100,000 yesterday which will support relief items, 10,000 tarpaulins were sent from Kuala Lumpur, and 2,000 hygiene parcels as well.

'The whole international Red Cross movement will be mobilising to support the Philippines Red Cross and the International Federation in country to be able to respond to the situation.'

Marie Madamba-Nunez of Oxfam, which has already dispatched aid to the Philippines, said: 'Making sure people have clean water, safe sanitation and a roof over peoples heads will be an immediate priority.

'These disasters compound the burden of Philippines' poorest people. Small scale farmers and those relying on fishing to make a living will be hardest hit. Their fields and their boats and tackle will be badly damaged and they will need help not only today but in months to come.



'Economic solutions to root out poverty and inequality must be paired with minimising the risk of poor communities to the vagaries of weather and climate change.'

Under water: Residents wade through a flooded street in Mindoro, Philippines this morning following the typoon

Pile up: Vehicles and rubbish are pictured strewn across a flooded street in Tacloban, Leyte

Upside down: A devastated airport in Tacloban city, Leyte province - where roofs were ripped on hundreds of houses