Hot, hazy and polluted weekend forecast in Hong Kong as Typhoon Soudelor batters Taiwan

Hong Kong will continue to suffer from hot and hazy weather this weekend as pollution hits the most harmful levels after being triggered by Typhoon Soudelor as it barrelled across Taiwan towards the mainland.

Taiwan was bracing for a direct hit from the storm, which was due to make landfall there this morning. Soudelor was packing wind speeds of up to 175km/h near the eye of the storm last night, prompting authorities to evacuate thousands and place troops on standby.

Fujian province will absorb the storm's second landfall this evening.

More than 2,000 people have already been relocated from Taiwan's outlying islands, which are popular with tourists, and troops were preparing to help residents move into shelters.

In Fujian, the government had begun evacuating people who live on the coast.

An eight-year-old girl in eastern Taiwan became the first casualty of the storm after being swept out to sea on Thursday in Yilan county. Another child went missing in the same incident while a 38-year-old woman and another girl survived.

Watch: Taiwan television footage shows typhoon lifting the front of a passenger plane on the tarmac