Eight confirmed deaths as Super Typhoon Fung-wong sweeps across the Philippines.

At least eight people have died after Super Typhoon Fung-wong (known as Super Typhoon Uwan inn the Philippines) swept across Luzon Island, the Philippines, on Saturday 8-Sunday 9 November 2025. This happened despite 1.4 million people being evacuated from areas deemed to be at risk from the storm. Three children are reported to have been killed in a landslide in Nueva Vizcaya Province, with another four being injured. Another landslide in the town of Lubuagan in Kalinga Province is known to have killed two people, with a further two missing, and another landslide killed an elderly person in Barlig, Mountain Provice. At least one person was killed in a flash flood in Pandan, Catanduanes Province. A woman is reported to have died in a house collapse on the island of Samar.

Storm damage in the City of Navatos in the National Capital Region of the Philippines.  Aaron Favila/AP.

Tropical storms are caused by the warming effect of the Sun over tropical seas. As the air warms it expands, causing a drop in air pressure, and rises, causing air from outside the area to rush in to replace it. If this happens over a sufficiently wide area, then the inrushing winds will be affected by centrifugal forces caused by the Earth's rotation (the Coriolis effect). This means that winds will be deflected clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the southern hemisphere, eventually creating a large, rotating Tropical Storm. They have different names in different parts of the world, with those in the northwest Pacific being referred to as typhoons.

The structure of a tropical cyclone. Wikimedia Commons.

Despite the obvious danger of winds of this speed, which can physically blow people, and other large objects, away as well as damaging buildings and uprooting trees, the real danger from these storms comes from the flooding they bring. Each drop millibar drop in air-pressure leads to an approximate 1 cm rise in sea level, with big tropical storms capable of causing a storm surge of several meters. This is always accompanied by heavy rainfall, since warm air over the ocean leads to evaporation of sea water, which is then carried with the storm. These combined often lead to catastrophic flooding in areas hit by tropical storms. 

The formation and impact of a storm surge. eSchoolToday.

Fung-wong was first observed as a convection current over the Central Pacific (about 560 km to the northeast of the island of Chuuk in Micronesia) on 3 November 2025. The current formed in an area with low vertical wind-shear and a sea surface temperature of 29–30°C (ideal conditions for tropical storm formation), and rapidly intensified, being officially upgraded to a tropical depression later that day. The system drifted to the east and gained in strength over the next 48 hours, being upgraded to a tropical storm and officially named Fung-wong by the Japanese Meteorological Agency on 5 November. 

By 6 November if was clear that the storm was heading towards the Philippines, causing the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration to give it their own name, Uwan (the Philippines names storms according to its own system, and does not recognise names given by the Japan Meteorological Association, despite the fact that that body almost always detects Pacific storms first, and the use of names awarded by the Japanese by all other countries in the region). This is only the second time they have ever done this before a storm entered their waters, a sign of how concerned they were by the storm. On the same day the storm was upgraded to a Typhoon.

The path and strength of Super Typhoon Fung-wong. Thick line indicates the past path of the storm (till midday GMT on Monday 10 November 2025), while the thin line indicates the predicted future path of the storm, and the dotted circles the margin of error at 12, 24, 36, 48, 72, and 96 hours ahead. Colour indicated the severity of the storm. Tropical Storm Risk.

On 8 November, Fung-woon began to intensify rapidly being upgraded to a Super Typhoon 13.10 hours before making landfall in the Philippines. When it did it brought with it sustained winds of over 185 km per hour, and gusts of up to 230 km per hour, over a storm front about 1800 km wide. This was accompanied by very heavy rainfall, with many areas receiving more rain in 24 hours than they usually do in the entire month of November.

The high rainfall was particularly problematic, as Super Typhoon Fung-wong passed over the Philippines only four days after Typhoon Kalmaegi, itself a major storm which brought with it major flooding. This meant that rivers and lakes were already at or over their safe capacity, and soil in many areas was already waterlogged, when the storm hit, making the flooding caused by the new storm particularly intense. 

Flooding in Tuguegarao City in Cagayan Province, the Philippines, on 10 November 2025. John Dimain/AFP.

As well as leading to larger and more frequent storms, warmer seas can enable them to change course rapidly, making it harder to predict where and when they will make landfall. This means that rising global temperatures, and the subsequent rise in sea temperatures, are both more and larger storms, but that tracking these storms is becoming much more problematic.

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Passage of Typhoon Yagi kills at least 39 people across the Philippines, South China, and Vietnam.

Typhoon Yagi is now known to have killed at least 39 people as it swept across the  Philippines, South China, and Vietnam between 2 and 7 September 2024. The storm was initially detected as a low pressure system to the northwest of Palau by the Japan Meteorological Agency on 30 August 2024. By 1 September it has moved to the northeast, gaining in strength to become a tropical depression as it entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (an area of the northwest Pacific monitored by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. The system was identified as Tropical Depression 12W by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, and named Enteng by red by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, then as it intensified to become a tropical storm, formally named Tropical Storm Yagi by the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Typhoon Yagi made landfall in Aurora Province on Luzon Island, the Philippines, at about 2.00 pm local time on Monday 2 September, taking fifteen hours to move across the island before emerging over the South China Sea at about 3.00 am on Tuesday 3 September. During this time the storm lost considerable energy, particularly as it passed over the Cordillera Central mountain range, but still causing significant disruption. The storm raised the waters of the Marikana River, which flows through eastern Manila, to rise by 16 m, leading to flooding in the Metro Manila area, as well as in the provinces of Bulacan, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Cavite, Laguna, Northern Samar, Pangasinan, and Rizal. A number of ships were driven aground in Manila Bay, with two colliding and catching fire. Twenty people are currently known to have died as a result of the storm on Luzon, nine of them in Rizal Province, with at least more 26 missing and at least eighteen injured. Around 28 000 people in Metro Manila, Calabarzon, and Bulacan, lost their electricity supplies during the storm, schools were closed for two days, and most flights to and from Luzon Island cancelled. About 80 000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas, with 459 homes destroyed and another 6128 damaged. Several dams had to be opened to prevent them being damaged by high waters, adding to the flooding in areas beneath them.

Flooding in Rizal Province, the Philippines, on 2 September 2024. AP. 

After passing over Luzon Tropical Storm passed across the South China Sea, merging with a smaller depression and gaining significantly in strength as it moved west towards China. By 5 September the storm had gained suficient energy that the Japan Meteorological Agency upgraded it to a Super Typhoon, which is to say a typhoon with windspeeds of 240 km per hour or above, the equivalent to a Category 4 or 5 storm on the Saffir–Simpson scale.

In preparation for this 420 000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas on Hainan Island, and 500 000 from low-lying areas in Guangdong Province, with widespread cancelation of flights, non-essential travel, and coastal activities in both provinces as well as Hong Kong.

Typhoon Yagi made landfall near the city of Wenchang on Hainan at about 4.20 pm local time on Friday 6 September, bringing with it sustained windspeeds of 195 km per hour, making it the strongest storm to hit the island since Typhoon Ramassun in 2014. It passed across the island making, and over the provincial capital, Haikou, before briefly making landfall in Xuwen County, Guangdong Province, then passing out over the Gulf of Tonkin. Four people are reported to have lost their lives on Hainan Island, with another 95 injured, and 1.2 million people losing electricity supplies. Aa further nine people were injured in Hong Kong.

Heavy rainfall and fallen trees in Wenchang City on 6 September 2024. Luo Yunfei/China News Service/VCG/Getty Images.

Typhoon Yaagi gained in strength again as it passed over the Gulf of Tonkin, reaching Vietnam as a Category 4 Typhoon (i.e. a storm with sustained winds in excess of 209 km per hour), making it one of the strongest storms ever to hit northern Vietnam. In preparation for the storm schools were closed and fishing and outdoor gatherings advised against, as well as most flights, ferry services, and sporting events cancelled. The storm made landfall over the city of Haiphong, binging high winds and extensive flooding to the Red River Valley. fifteen people are known to have died in Vietnam, including four people hit by flying debris, another four, described as a family, by a landslide in Hoa Binh, and another man in Hai Dong hit by a falling tree.

High winds caused by Typhoon Yagi on the shore of Phuong Luu Lake in Haiphong. Nhac Nguyen/AFP.

Tropical storms are caused by the warming effect of the Sun over tropical seas. As the air warms it expands, causing a drop in air pressure, and rises, causing air from outside the area to rush in to replace it. If this happens over a sufficiently wide area, then the inrushing winds will be affected by centrifugal forces caused by the Earth's rotation (the Coriolis effect). This means that winds will be deflected clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the southern hemisphere, eventually creating a large, rotating Tropical Storm. They have different names in different parts of the world, with those in the northwest Pacific being referred to as typhoons.

The structure of a tropical cyclone. Wikimedia Commons.

Despite the obvious danger of winds of this speed, which can physically blow people, and other large objects, away as well as damaging buildings and uprooting trees, the real danger from these storms comes from the flooding they bring. Each drop millibar drop in air-pressure leads to an approximate 1 cm rise in sea level, with big tropical storms capable of causing a storm surge of several meters. This is always accompanied by heavy rainfall, since warm air over the ocean leads to evaporation of sea water, which is then carried with the storm. These combined often lead to catastrophic flooding in areas hit by tropical storms. 

The formation and impact of a storm surge. eSchoolToday.

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Asteroid 2024 RW1 impacts the Earth.

On the morning of Wednesday 4 September 2024, planetary scientist Jacqueline Fazekas working at the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey detected a fast moving object, which she interpreted as a potential Near Earth Asteroid. She reported this to the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, where it was given the provisional designation CAQTDL2. This initial discovery was followed by a series of further sightings from other observatories, confirming that the object was an asteroid, which was then named 2024 RW1, and that it was on a collision course with the Earth.

Discovery images of Asteroid 2024, within purple circles. Catalina Sky Survey.

The designation 2024 RW1 implies that the asteroid was the 47th asteroid  (asteroid W1 - in numbering asteroids the letters A-Z, excluding I, are assigned numbers from 1 to 25, with a number added to the end each time the alphabet is ended, so that A = 1, A1 = 26, A2 = 51, etc., which means that W1 = (25 x 1) + 22 = 47) discovered in the first half of September 2024 (period 2024 R - the year being split into 24 half-months represented by the letters A-Y, with I being excluded).

Asteroid 2024 RW1 is calculated to have had a 1450 day (3.97 year) orbital period, with an elliptical orbit tilted at an angle of 0.53° to the plain of the Solar System which took in to 0.74 AU from the Sun (74% of the distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun) and out to 4.23 AU (4.23 times the distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun, and almost three times the distance at which the planet Mars orbits). It is therefore classed as having been an Apollo Group Asteroid (an asteroid that is on average further from the Sun than the Earth, but which does get closer). 

The calculated orbit of asteroid 2024 RW1. JPL Small Body Database.

Asteroid 2024 BX1 is calculated to have had four close encounters with the Earth before finally impacting, with the first in August 1912, and the most recent in October 2020. It has also had close encounters with Venus in June 1966 and January 2009, and Jupiter in November 2006 and September 2018. Asteroids which make close passes to multiple planets are considered to be in unstable orbits, and are often eventually knocked out of these orbits by these encounters, either being knocked onto a new, more stable orbit, dropped into the Sun, knocked out of the Solar System or occasionally colliding with a planet.

By 11.00 am GMT on 4 September 2024, the European Space Agency had calculated that Asteroid 2024 RW1 would impact the Earth, entering the atmosphere at about 5.08 pm over or close to northern Luzon Island, the Philippines. In the event the asteroid entered the atmosphere at 4.46 pm GMT (0.46 am on 5 September, Philippines time) over the Pacific Ocean to the east of Luzon, producing a bright fireball meteor, with a distinct green colour, which probably indicates that it had a high magnesium content. 

A bright fireball meteor observed from Tuguegarao City in the Philippines on 5 September 2024, thought to have been caused by the impact of Asteroid 2024 RW1. Marvin Coloma/American Meteor Society.

Objects of this size probably enter the Earth's atmosphere several times a year, though unless they do so over populated areas they are unlikely to be noticed. They are officially described as fireballs if they produce a light brighter than the planet Venus. It is possible on this occasion the object is known to have produced meteorites that reached the surface (an object visible in the sky is a meteor, a rock that falls from the sky and can be physically held and examined is a meteorite).

Based upon observations in space and on entry to the Earth's atmosphere, 2024 RW1 is calculated to have been about a metre in diameter, and to have had a high magnesium content, something which in turn implies a stony meteorite rich in the mineral olivine (counter to possible expectations, metallic meteorites seldom contain much magnesium). However, as it fell to Earth over the Pacific Ocean, it is unlikely that any fragments of the asteroid will be recovered to test this hypothesis. 2024 RW1 is the eighth asteroid ever to have been discovered before impacting the Earth.

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Typhoon Doksuri makes landfall in China, after leaving at least 39 people dead in the Philippines.

Typhoon Doksuri made landfall in Fujian Province, China, on the morning of Friday 28 July 2023, after claiming at least 39 lives as it passed across the Philippines earlier this week. The dead in the Philippines include a mother, her child, and two other children that were in the same house when it was buried by a landslide at Baguis in Benguet Province, on Wednesday 26 July. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids. Approximately 90% of all landslides are caused by heavy rainfall. These combined often lead to catastrophic flooding in areas hit by tropical storms.. Also in Benguit Province a 17-year-old was killed in a lamdslip triggered by heavy rains. In Isabela Province, a woman selling bread from a bicycle cart was killed by a falling tree. The majority of those who lost their lives, however, were on a ferry travelling town of Binangonan on Luzon Island and the smaller island of Talim, which capsized about 50 m after setting sail. Thirty people have now been confirmed dead following this incident, with many more still missing.

The MV Princess Aya, which capsized shortly after leaving the port of Binangonan on Luzon Island on Thursday 27 July 2023. The vessel overturned after encountering strong winds associated with Typhoon Doksuri, killing at least 30 passengers. The ferry is believed to have had about 70 people onboard when it sank, despite being licenced for only 40. The captain and engineer of the vessel have been arrested and may face charges. Rappler.

After passing over the Philippines Typhoon Doksuri swept to the south of Taiwan, brining with it winds gusting at up to 191 km per hour, and rains of up to 70 mm. Around 4000 people were evacuated from vulnerable areas as a precaution, and all internal and most international flights were grounded as a precaution. In the event there have been no major damage or casualties reported, although about 15 700 houssholds temporarily lost their power. In Fujian Province around 400 000 people were evacuated from areas deemed at risk, all boats were required to return to port as a precaution, and almost all transport services were suspended. No casualties have been reported in Fujian, and the only significant damage was to a sports stadium, which lost part of its roof.

Waves associated with Typhoon Doksuri battering the coast of Fujian Province, China, on Thursday 27 July 2023. Wei Peiquan/Xinhau/AP.

Tropical storms are caused by the warming effect of the Sun over tropical seas. As the air warms it expands, causing a drop in air pressure, and rises, causing air from outside the area to rush in to replace it. If this happens over a sufficiently wide area then the inrushing winds will be affected by centrifugal forces caused by the Earth's rotation (the Coriolis effect). This means that winds will be deflected clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the southern hemisphere, eventually creating a large, rotating Tropical Storm. They have different names in different parts of the world, with those in the northwest Pacific being referred to as typhoons.

The formation of a tropical cyclone. Natural Disaster Management.

Despite the obvious danger of winds of this speed, which can physically blow people, and other large objects, away as well as damaging buildings and uprooting trees, the real danger from these storms comes from the flooding they bring. Each drop millibar drop in air-pressure leads to an approximate 1 cm rise in sea level, with big tropical storms capable of causing a storm surge of several meters. This is always accompanied by heavy rainfall, since warm air over the ocean leads to evaporation of sea water, which is then carried with the storm. These combined often lead to catastrophic flooding in areas hit by tropical storms. 

The formation and impact of a storm surge. eSchoolToday.

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Around 15 000 people evacuated from their homes following eruptions on Mount Mayon, the Philippines.

About 15 000 people have been forced to leave their homes after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology ordered an evacuation of villages within 6 km of Mount Mayon, a 2463 m stratovolcano (cone shaped volcano) on southern Luzon Island. The evacuations were ordered on Sunday 11 June 2023, when the volcano began a new eruption, although a warning that such an evacuation might be ordered has been in place since an upsurge in seismic activity beneath the volcano a week previously. Such seismic activity can be a sign of liquid magma moving into chambers beneath the volcano, itself often a precursor of eruptions. On Sunday 11 June lava was seen oozing from the volcano's crater and descending the mountain's flanks.

Lava flows on the flanks of Mount Mayon on 11 June 2023. Nehemiah Manzanilla Sitiar/Reuters.

Mayon is considered to be a particularly due to the dense population in the area surrounding it. It has a long history of causing fatalities, most recently in 7 May 2013, when a sudden eruption caught a party of tourists by surprise, leading to five fatalities. As well as the direct danger from volcanic eruptions, Mayon has been the cause of numerous lahars (ash-laden flash foods). These tend to occur when ash from the volcano builds up across the path of seasonal waterways during the dry season, leading to temporary damming of water courses then flash floods at the start of the rainy season.

The location of Mount Mayon. Google Maps.

The geology of the Philippines is complex, with the majority of the islands located on the east of the Sunda Plate. To the east of this lies the Philippine Sea plate, which is being subducted beneath the Sunda Plate (a breakaway part of the Eurasian Plate); further east, in the Mariana Islands, the Pacific Plate is being subducted beneath the Philippine Sea Plate. This is not a smooth process, and the rocks of the tectonic plates frequently stick together before eventually being broken apart by the rising pressure, leading to Earthquakes in the process. Material from the subducting Philippine Plate is heated by the temperature of the Earth's interior, causing lighter minerals to melt and the resultant magma to rise through the overlying Sunda Plate, fuelling the volcanoes of the Philippines.

Subduction beneath the Philippines. Yves Descatoire/Singapore Earth Observatory.

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