Torrential rains across southern ​Taiwan forced offices and schools to close on ‌Monday and some rail services were disrupted, with officials bracing for a typhoon to hit the north of the island later ​in the week.

A low-pressure system has hovered over ​southern Taiwan for the past few days, bringing heavy ⁠rain and causing flooding.

The local governments of the two cities ​of Kaohsiung and Tainan, home to more than four million ​people, ordered offices and schools closed, as did the counties of Pingtung and Chiayi and the mountainous eastern counties of Taitung and ​Hualien.

The Kaohsiung government said it expected cumulative rainfall over ​the five-day period of the low-pressure system to exceed 1.3 metres (4.3 ‌feet), ⁠nearly half what the city typically expects in an entire year.

Taiwan Railway said there would be disruptions on the main east coast line and trains to and from ​Kaohsiung and Taitung ​with express ⁠services cancelled and local trains dependent on weather conditions.

"If you've got nothing on, for ​goodness sake don't go out," Taitung county ​chief April ⁠Yao wrote on her Facebook page.

Taiwan's Central Weather Administration said separately that Typhoon Saudel, currently heading towards Japan's southern ⁠Okinawa ​region, is expected to pass by ​the northern part of Taiwan early on Friday before reaching the eastern ​coast of China.

-Reuters