Hong Kong axes flights, classes as Typhoon Wipha nears
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Flight status displayed on an information board at the Hong Kong International Airport on July 19, 2025.
PHOTO: AFP
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HONG KONG – Hong Kong issued its third-highest tropical cyclone warning in the early hours of July 20 as Typhoon Wipha drew nearer, with the authorities cancelling classes and grounding hundreds of flights.
Wipha was located around 280km south-east of Hong Kong as of midnight, according to Hong Kong’s weather observatory.
The observatory has hoisted the T8 warning signal, meaning that “winds with mean speeds of (63kmh) or more are expected”.
The storm was expected to keep intensifying, moving across the northern part of the South China Sea and edging closer to the coast of China’s Guangdong province.
“There will be frequent heavy squally showers and thunderstorms over the region. Seas will be high with swells,” the observatory added.
China’s Hainan and Guangdong provinces were also put on high alert, state news agency Xinhua reported on July 19.
More than 250 flights servicing Hong Kong had been cancelled as of late July 19, according to the website of the city’s international airport.
Hong Kong’s Airport Authority asked travellers to prepare for “significant flight cancellations or delays” and said that no passenger flights are expected to depart the city before noon on July 20.
The authorities suspended classes on July 20 at all day schools and daycare centres.
Bus services are expected to be halted until midday July 20.
Wipha brought heavy rains and flooding to the Philippines and two people have been reported missing, according to the country’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. AFP
