Authorities in Shanghai and neighbouring coastal regions cancelled flights, and suspended schools, subways and trains as Typhoon Chanthu approached China after drenching Taiwan though causing little damage there.

The storm, with winds of more than 170 kilometres per hour near its eye, had been downgraded from a super typhoon to a strong typhoon on Sunday evening and was expected to gradually weaken, Shanghai city authorities said in a post on their official WeChat account.

But it was still expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain to coastal regions.

The province of Zhejiang near Shanghai raised its emergency response to the highest level on Sunday, closing schools and suspending flights and rail services in some cities, the official Xinhua news service reported.

In Shanghai, home to about 26 million people, all flights at the city’s larger Pudong International Airport were to be cancelled from 11 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), while flights from the smaller Hongqiao airport in the west of the city were to be cancelled from 3 p.m., the Shanghai government announced on WeChat.

The city also suspended subway services on some lines serving the city’s southern districts, and said parks, outdoor tourist attractions and playgrounds would be closed on Monday and Tuesday. Classes were also due to be suspended on Monday afternoon and Tuesday.

Metro Lines suspended 

The affected lines include Metro Line 2 between Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park and the Pudong International Airport, Line 5, Line 16, the Pujiang Line and the maglev.

From this afternoon to night, Gangcheng Road-Yunshan Road of Line 6, the section of Luheng Road-Shendu Road of Line 8, the section of Xinjiangwancheng-Keelung Road of Line 10, the section of Yuqiao-Disne of Line 11. Line 1  between Xinzhuang and Shanghai South Railway Station, Shanghai Railway Station-Fujin Road section. The entire lines of Line 3, the common lines of Line 4 and Line 3, and Hailun Road and Linping Road of Line 4. Line 11 between Jiading North/Huaqiao and Wuwei Road. And the entire line of Line 17.