Taipei  - Taiwan Friday issued a sea warning against tropical storm Linfa and advised vessels to be on high alert sailing through the Taiwan Strait, Bashi Channel and waters near the Pratas Islands.

The storm was located about 470 kilometres southwest of Taiwan's southernmost tip of Olupani as of 8 pm (1200 GMT), Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said in a statement.

Packing maximum sustained winds of up to 108 kilometres per hour (kph) with a radius of 120 kilometres, Linfa was moving at a speed of 14 kph in a northeast-north direction, the bureau said.

It said the outer edge of Linfa was expected to affect Taiwan from Saturday. Central and southern Taiwan would experience torrential rains over the next few days, the bureau noted.

Linfa was the first typhoon forecast to affect the island this year, and the third tropical storm of the season to form in the West Pacific region, the bureau said.(dpa)