Hong Kong raised the T8 storm signal at 9.20pm on Sunday, with the Observatory expecting it to remain in force until at least 11am on Monday.
“Tapah is expected to skirt within 200 kilometres southwest of Hong Kong around sunrise tomorrow morning. It will then make landfall over western Guangdong… Locally, there will be squally heavy showers and thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow. Seas will be very rough with swells,” the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) said on Sunday.
The stormy weather is likely to obscure the chances of Hongkongers seeing a lunar eclipse in the early hours of Monday.
Schools on Monday will be cancelled and transport may be disrupted.
It is set to be a wet and hot week, the Observatory predicts.
“[U]nder the influence of an active southerly airstream, there will still be showers and thunderstorms over the coast of southern China midweek this week,” the HKO said. “An anticyclone aloft is expected to cover southeastern China in the latter part of this week, the weather will be generally fine and persistently very hot, and winds will be weak over the coast of southern China.”
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
- Cold Weather Warning was issued at 16:20 HKT (5 Jan 2026)
- Red Fire Danger Warning was issued at 06:00 HKT (5 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.
