The Hong Kong Observatory hoisted the T8 storm signal at 2:40 am on Friday as Super Typhoon Saola edged closer to the city.
The stock market and schools will remain closed on Friday, and most transport will be limited.
“The weather over the coast of Guangdong will deteriorate. It will be windy with frequent heavy squally showers and storm surge. Seas will be high with swells,” the Observatory said.
It is the second time this year that the city has shut down due to a typhoon, with local media reporting that a T10 signal – the highest storm warning on the scale – could be issued.
Typhoon Signal 8
When the No. 8 signal is issued, gale or storm force winds are affecting, or expected to affect, Hong Kong.
- The Hong Kong Observatory will make a special announcement within two hours before the signal is hoisted. Most offices and businesses will then close and people without special reasons for staying out are expected to go home.
- All school classes and most government services will halt.
- Ferry services will give notice as to when they will stop running, while most bus routes will halt within two hours after the signal is issued.
- MTR trains will run normally unless weather conditions worsen.
- Citizens should return home or stay in a safe place, and avoid low-lying areas likely to be flooded.
- Temporary shelters will be opened in government buildings for people with no safe refuge.
Observatory signals currently in force
- Yellow Fire Danger Warning was issued at 06:00 HKT (4 Jan 2026)
Climate crisis
Tropical cyclones – which get their energy from warm ocean water – are strengthening and become ever more destructive because of warming seas. Over 90 per cent of excess heat in the atmosphere is ending up in oceans, according to NASA, as rising greenhouse gases prevent it from escaping to space.
The weather will remain hot and wet during the coming week. “Under the influence of a broad trough of low pressure, there will still be showers over the coast of southern China early next week,” the Observatory predicts, as another storm – Tropical Cyclone Haikui – moves towards Japan’s Ryukyu Islands.
