A powerful typhoon wrecked houses, caused towering tidal surges and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee to emergency shelters as it cut across the northern Philippines on Sunday in the sixth major storm to hit the country in less than a month.

Super Typhoon makes landfall with sustained winds of up to 125mph, destroying houses and powerlines on its path

The sixth tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines in a month intensified with maximum sustained winds reaching 121 mph.