Nearly a million people are being told to evacuate their homes in south Vietnam as a deadly typhoon bears down on the area.

Typhoon Tembin was expected to slam into the country late on Christmas Day, after killing more than 230 people in the Philippines and leaving tens of thousands homeless in its wake.

Vietnamese authorities say more than 70,000 residents have already been moved and are ordering oil rigs and vessels to be protected and fishing boats not to venture out to sea.

The storm's downpours caused floods and landslides in the Philippines, where rescue workers are still struggling to reach more remote areas.

They say the full extent of the devastation is only just becoming clear.

Scores of people are still missing and the death toll is expected to rise.

Disaster officials said many residents had ignored warnings to leave coastal areas and riverbanks.

Both Vietnam and the Philippines are regularly battered by such storms. In 2013, super typhoon Haiyan killed nearly 8,000 people and left 200,000 families homeless in the central Philippines.