I agree, this was an utterly ridiculous story, barely a step away from the old Sunday Sport "WW2 bomber on the moon" headlines of the 1990s.... The fundamental difference is that at least the latter was tongue in cheek.
It seems the editor must have thought.... "Typhoon - big story, but we need it to have direct relevance to our readers - let's ask our "weather experts" to make a link..... The "weather experts" duly comply, the fee removing any qualms about the fact they are writing fiction.
What I don't get is just how frequent these "weather panic" stories are, as surely any regular reader of these papers, even if of very low intelligence, must be fed up by the constant "crying wolf".
Andrew
Rendlesham, Suffolk 20m asl