Gale force winds and heavy rains are lashing coastal areas of north-west India and southern Pakistan as a fierce cyclone makes landfall.

More than 170,000 people have been evacuated so far.

Forecasters have warned that Cyclone Biparjoy - which means "disaster" in Bengali - could destroy homes and crops in its path.

The landfall process has started and could go on till midnight local time.

The cyclone is set to hit the coast near the Jakhau port, between Mandvi in Gujarat and Keti Bandar in Pakistan's Sindh province.

Pakistan's disaster management agency has warned of storm surges as high as 3-4m (10-13ft) along the coastline from Karachi to Gujarat.

Alok Pandey, the official in charge of relief operations in Gujarat, said earlier on Thursday that the cyclone's intensity had reduced but that wind speeds were still expected to be at "very dangerous" levels of around 110-125 km/h at the time of landfall.

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