Red typhoon alert issued

China's Meteorological authorities on Thursday issued its first red alert for a typhoon this year as typhoon Rammasun heads for landfall in south China on Friday.

Rammasun is likely to come ashore in Hainan and Guangdong provinces on Friday afternoon, strengthening to level 14 or 15 and bringing torrential rain to already waterlogged regions, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

Hainan, Guangdong and Guangxi will be hit by rainstorms, while inland areas of Yunnan, Hubei and Henan will experience heavy rainfall.

The NMC warned of flooding in cities and landslides in mountain areas.

Red alert is the most severe in China's four-tier color-coded weather warning system, followed by orange, yellow and blue.