Sarah Keith-Lucas
BBC Weather

Cyclone Chido hit the far north of Mayotte at around 15:00 local time (12:00 GMT) on Saturday as an intense tropical cyclone, equivalent to a major category four hurricane.

Wind speeds of 226 km/h (140 mph) were recorded as the cyclone made landfall on the island.

Wave heights were also estimated to be between four and eight metres (13-28ft) on the north coast of the island.

It is the strongest cyclone to have hit Mayotte in 90 years.

Image source, EPA

French President Emmanuel Macron said there was a need for urgency as he committed to sending "reinforcements" to the French island territory of Mayotte over the weekend.

"My thoughts are with our compatriots in Mayotte, who have gone through the most horrific few hours, and who have, for some, lost everything, lost their lives," he said.

And in a post on social media on Saturday, Macron said he was "closely following the situation", adding "the whole country is on your side".

"Reinforcements are here, others will arrive tomorrow," he said, adding "it's time for urgency. We will be there today and tomorrow."

Entire communities were flattened when cyclone Chido made landfall in Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean, with the poorest living in makeshift shelters particularly hard hit.

Helen Willetts
BBC Weather

Tropical cyclones are powerful storms that cover large areas and are associated with some of the world’s most devastating weather.

They bring destructive winds, deadly storm surges and heavy rains, which can lead to flooding and landslides.

Cyclones like Chido are actually the same weather phenomena as hurricanes and typhoons - it just depends which ocean they originate from:

• Those that form in the Caribbean or North America are known as hurricanes
• In the Far East - close to China, Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam - they're called typhoons
• And cyclones form in the Indian Ocean and the southern Pacific

Image source, Reuters

Some of Mayotte's population of 320,000 say they are struggling with severe shortages of food, water and shelter.

One resident of the capital city, Mamoudzou, waiting for supplies, says: "We've had no water for three days now, so it's starting to be a lot.

"We're trying to get the bare minimum to live on, because we don't know when the water will come back."

Mohamed Ishmael, another Mamoudzou resident, tells Reuters news agency the situation there was "a tragedy".

"You feel like you are in the aftermath of a nuclear war… I saw an entire neighbourhood disappear," he says.

Image source, Reuters

The first planes carrying first aid from France arrived in Mayotte on Sunday night.

"The state is fully mobilised to support the inhabitants of Mayotte in this ordeal," Nicolas Daragon, France's minister for everyday security, said on X last night., external

Mayotte is a French island in the Indian Ocean.

It lies in the north of the Mozambique channel off the coast of south east Africa, between Madagascar and Mozambique.

Mayotte is made up of two main islands: Grande-Terre and Petite-Terre. The nearby Comoros cover three small volcanic islands. Unlike Mayotte, Comoros declared independence from France in 1975.

Mayotte has a population of 321,000 people. Earlier this year, we reported on the hundreds of migrants who arrive every week, many from Comoros.

Image source, Reuters

Rescuers are trying to reach survivors on the French island of Mayotte after the territory, off the coast of east Africa, was hit by a cyclone over the weekend.

Entire settlements were flattened when Cyclone Chido brought wind speeds of more than 225km/h (140mph), with the poorest living in shantytowns particularly hard hit.

The death toll could reach "close to a thousand or even several thousand", the island's prefect, Francois-Xavier Bieuville, says.

France's interior minister Bruno Retailleau is travelling to the island today with 160 soldiers and firefighters to reinforce the 110 already there, the AFP news agency reports.

Stick with us for updates throughout the day.