“All the flights from and to Miyazaki and Tanegashima airports have been cancelled and partially for Amami airport,” a spokesman said.

Cathay Pacific alerted customers, saying: “We are closely monitoring the potential impact of Typhoon Krosa on our flight operations to/from Fukuoka, Osaka and Nagoya ... currently, flight operations remain normal but the situation is subject to change.”

All Nippon Airways meanwhile cancelled 34 flights for Miyazaki airport. Both airlines said they would decide later how many flights they will cancel for Thursday, when the storm is forecast to make landfall.

Meanwhile, West Japan Railway announced the cancellation of Thursday’s shinkansen bullet train service between Osaka and southwestern Japan.

Krosa, which is packing maximum gusts of 144km/h, was expected to hit the southwestern Shikoku island on Thursday before moving across western Japan, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.

The agency warned of the risk of landslides and flooding due to heavy rain.

At the other extreme, an estimated 12,751 people were rushed to hospitals due to heat-related conditions across Japan over the week from August 5. That included 23 people who died as a result, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said on Wednesday.

With severe heat continuing to scorch Japan, the number of those taken to hospitals surpassed the 10,000 mark for the second consecutive week, while the figure dropped from 18,347 logged in the previous week from July 29, the preliminary data showed.

Of those patients, 400 exhibited severe symptoms that required at least three weeks of treatment as an inpatient, while 4,554 had symptoms requiring shorter hospital stays. Those aged 65 and older accounted for 54.9 per cent of the total.

The 23 deaths were recorded in 20 prefectures outside the capital, while Tokyo had the highest number of people sent to hospitals at 1,465, followed by Saitama at 977 and Osaka at 897.

Additional reporting by Kyodo