Mainland authorities will cancel flights in Hainan on Saturday night before Typhoon Matmo hits the southern province, likely disrupting a peak holiday travel period for the resort island.

All flights to and from the provincial capital Haikou's international airport are expected to be cancelled from 11 pm, Xinhua news agency reported, as Matmo could bring strong winds and heavy rain to southern China, including Guangdong and Yunnan.

Matmo, which caused flooding in the Philippines this week, is expected to make landfall on Sunday in Guangdong and Hainan.

China’s national weather observatory issued an orange alert warning for the storm on Saturday.

Haikou plans to halt all schools, work and transport from Saturday afternoon to Sunday, Xinhua said.

The typhoon will be hitting during the eight-day National Day holiday, which began on Wednesday, with people expected to make some 2.36 billion passenger trips and the daily average trips forecast to be up 3.2 percent from the same period last year, Xinhua said on Wednesday.

Haikou had planned nearly 150 cultural events and more than 10 sports competitions during the holiday period, while the resort city Sanya had planned 170 art and tourism activities, according to Hainan's official social media.

State media CCTV, citing meteorological experts, asked the public to stay vigilant as Matmo will have a serious impact on tourism and transportation, while the number of travellers is up significantly.

Matmo regained strength on Saturday morning, becoming a typhoon again as it left the Philippines and moved towards Hainan after earlier weakening into a storm.

The typhoon had sustained wind speeds of 118 kilometres per hour on Saturday, according to China’s National Meteorological Center.