Taiwan issued sea and land warnings as a tropical storm headed towards the island on Tuesday, threatening to lash the southeastern coast with heavy rains and strong winds.

By 0000 GMT, the centre of Tropical Storm Pabuk was about 400 km (250 miles) east of Taiwan and was moving northwest at 21 kph, with sustained winds of up to 101 kph and maximum gusts of 126 kph, the Central Weather Bureau said on its website.

Tropical storms in the region gather intensity from the warm ocean waters and can develop into typhoons that frequently hit Taiwan, Hong Kong and southern China during a season that lasts from early summer to late autumn.

Financial markets, government offices, schools and businesses are forced to close several times every year because of typhoons.

In 2001, one of Taiwan's deadliest years for storms, Typhoon Toraji killed 200 people. A few months later, Typhoon Nari caused Taipei's worst flooding on record and killed 100.