Biggest storm in history: 1,200 dead and MILLIONS affected across the Philippines... and now 235mph Typhoon Haiyan is heading for mainland Asia

   One of the most powerful storms on record, Typhoon Haiyan, has killed 1,200 people and left many more injured.According to the Red Cross, 1,200 have been left dead - 1,000 of those in the city of Tacloban, on the island of Leyte.About four million people are believed to have been affected by the category five storm, according to the country's national disaster agency. This figure includes 800,000 people who had to be evacuated before the storm struck.Winds of up to 235mph and gusts of 170mph left a trail of destruction - triggering major landslides, knocking out power and communications and causing catastrophic widespread damage. Hundreds of homes have been flattened and scores of streets flooded.

Humanitarian experts say they expect the number of casualties to be 'massive'. A Red Cross spokesman said: 'We now fear that thousands will have lost their lives.'The UK has sent a team of three experts to the country today to assess the extent of the damage, after which the Government will decide upon its response, a spokesman for the Department for International Development (Dfid) said.The category-5 super typhoon Haiyan – Chinese for ‘sea bird’ – smashed into the eastern islands of the Philippines with winds nearly 150mph stronger than the St Jude storm which struck the UK in late October.Roofs were ripped from houses, ferocious 20ft waves washed away coastal villages, power lines came down and trees were uprooted.

This picture shows acres of flooded rice fields in the Iloilo Province, another area devastated by the typhoon