MANILA: Philippine authorities warned the public on Sunday to take precautions for what could be the most powerful storm to hit the country this year.

Packing gusts of up to 220 kilometres per hour, Typhoon Bopha was 1,000 kilometres southeast of the Philippines as of Sunday morning and forecast to make landfall between Tuesday and Wednesday, the state weather bureau said.

Heavy rain from the advancing storm was expected to hit the central Visayas region and the main southern island of Mindanao from Sunday night, it said.—AFP