Super typhoon Haiyan, the world's strongest cyclone this year, hit the Philippines early Friday with gusts of 275 kilometres (171 miles) per hour, the state weather service said. Haiyan was over the island of Samar, about 600 kilometres southeast of Manila, after making landfall at the coastal town of Guiuan at 4:40am (2040 GMT Thursday), state meteorologist Romeo Cajulis told AFP.