Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from coastal areas of the central and southern Philippines ahead of a strong typhoon that is expected to make landfall on Thursday afternoon.

Typhoon Rai, which has been upgraded to a Category 4 storm, the second-highest classification, has wind speeds of 165km per hour, with gusts of up to 205 kph, the Philippines' weather bureau said.

Nearly 30,000 residents in...