Landfall on Thursday: Will Typhoon Ma-on alleviate the heat?

Typhoon Ma-on is on track to make landfall on August 25th, on the coast of China's southern Guangdong province.

As the ninth typhoon this year, strong winds and heavy downpours of rain are expected near Yangjiang as it makes landfall on Thursday, though its exact landfall location at this stage remains changeable.

This comes after China has battled one of its worst heatwaves on record, suffering over 70 days.

Whilst the intense heat will be broken briefly in southern China, it'll be around a week until more widespread relief is felt. In addition, the heavy rains will present a risk of flooding, with many parts of the country in drought alert.

With the ground baked hard in some regions, soils will have become non-porous, and so any heavy rain will collect on the surface rather than being absorbed.

Northwest China has already been hit by torrential rain, which triggered severe flash flooding, landslides and mudslides, with several people reported dead or missing.