Heavy rains lashed a highway as Super Typhoon Usagi neared the northern coast of the Philippines on Thursday.

Footage shows the downpour beating down on the road in Amulung town in storm-weary Cagayan province on November 14.

Philippine weather agency PAGASA said Usagi, locally known as Ofel, intensified into a super typhoon on Thursday morning. It made landfall in Baggao town in Cagayan province at 1:30 pm on November 14 and was downgraded to a typhoon as it travelled over the Luzon island landmass.

The agency said: 'It will continue to weaken throughout the forecast period due to frictional effects of land, as well as the increasingly unfavorable environment over the Luzon Strait and the sea east of Taiwan.'

Authorities have raised the highest storm alert and evacuated thousands in Cagayan province as PAGASA warned of 'life-threatening' coastal waves and intense rains.

Usagi is the fifth storm to batter the Philippines in three weeks.

PAGASA was also monitoring Tropical Storm Man-yi, which was set to enter the Philippine storm monitoring zone on Thursday evening.

The Philippines experiences frequent and intense storms especially during the typhoon season from June to November, due to its location in the Pacific typhoon belt. These storms often bring heavy rain, strong winds, and flooding that cause significant damage to infrastructure, agriculture, and communities.