Officials are warning people in Florida's west coast that the time "to get out is now", as Hurricane Milton closes in on the state.

Chad Chronister, sheriff of Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, tells CNN: “This is the 11th hour. If you’re in an evacuation zone, the time to get out is now".

“We already saw some flooding out here early this morning,” Chronister says, adding that the situation is "only going to get worse".

The state is "still healing" from Hurricane Helene, he says, which hit two weeks ago and caused substantial damage.

Simon King and Elizabeth Rizzini
Lead weather presenters

As we've been reporting, Hurricane Milton is due to make landfall late on Wednesday night near Tampa Bay, Florida.

As well as hurricane-force winds and flooding rain, there will be a significant storm surge - an abnormal rise in sea level caused by a storm.

The US National Hurricane Center is warning that Hurricane Milton could bring a record storm surge of 10-15ft (3-5m) around the Tampa Bay area and south to Boca Grande.

This comes only two weeks after Hurricane Helene brought a record storm surge of 7.8ft (2.4m) to Tampa Bay with extensive damage.

Helene - the deadliest US storm since Katrina in 2005 - killed at least 225 people and caused billions of dollars' worth of damage.

In the hours leading up to Milton's landfall, meteorologists will be monitoring the exact track as differences of 20-50 miles (30-50km) north or south will dictate where the most extreme storm surge is likely to happen.

Hurricane Milton is currently located around 300 miles (485 km) south west of Tampa, Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

It has a maximum sustained wind speed of 160 mph (260 km/h) and remains a category 5 hurricane.

The NHC expects Hurricane Milton will make landfall on Wednesday night (local time) as an "extremely dangerous hurricane".

It is forecast to hit near the city of Tampa, an area with a population of more than three million people, who are being told to prepare for the state's largest evacuation effort in years.

Image source, Getty Images

Floodwater brought by Hurricane Milton could expose people to a potentially life-threatening infection, Florida's department of health warns.

In a statement, they say the concentration of potentially life-threatening Vibrio bacteria, commonly found in warm coastal waters, may rise after heavy rainfall and flooding

The bacteria can cause illness when ingested or when open wounds are exposed to contaminated water.

The health department adds those who experience symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fever, chills, fast or high heart rate, confusion or disorientation should seek medical attention immediately.

Hurricane Milton could weaken to a category three storm as it makes landfall on Wednesday night near Tampa city, meteorologists say.

Officials say Milton, currently under category five status, could be the worst storm to hit the area in about a century - with a surge of 10-15ft (3-4.5m) possible, and localised rainfall of up to 1.5ft.

John Morales, a Florida meteorologist, tells the BBC the storm will be "particularly dangerous because of its extreme intensity".

"Even if it loses strength, it could still be a category four or a category three hurricane when it makes landfall," he tells the BBC.

Morales adds that Hurricane Milton was moving in on the west coast of Florida at a "pretty perpendicular" angle.

"Generally hurricanes will come from the western Caribbean and come at Florida's west coast at an oblique angle. This one instead is coming from the Western Gulf of Mexico," he says.

"That's going to drive a storm surge even higher. The depth of the inundation is going to be greater because of that angle of approach."

We've been hearing from Matt Faustini, who is preparing to evacuate Largo with his mother before Hurricane Milton reaches Florida.

Faustini says this is the first time he's had to leave because of a major storm, but his family is ready and has stocked up on cash, fuel and insulin for his mum, who has diabetes.

The community has been "coming together", he says, with neighbours helping to board up windows in his house.

"The biggest thing we’re worried about, especially in my city, is we have a large senior population and a lot of them live in mobile homes that were built in the 1970s and 1980s," he tells BBC Radio 4's Today.

"And the wind, even if we don’t get the storm surge, 30% of our housing is mobile homes. This could be catastrophic to so many of our senior citizens."

Asked what non-essential item he's packed, he tells the programme: "My family has English and Scottish ancestry so we have a coat of arms that has been handed down in our family.

"We have a family tree that goes back to the great fire in London that was hand-done by my grandmother. You can replace TVs, that kind of stuff."

Christal Hayes
Live reporter

ML Ferguson lost her home in Anna Maria, Florida, in Hurricane Helene. She had decided to stay and ride the storm out, but ended up being rescued by first responders in a boat after water started gushing inside her home.

This time, she tells me, she wasn't looking to chance it.

"This one is going to be way worse than Helene," she says, while sitting in traffic as she evacuated to Destin.

She notes that historically, the mentality of many in Florida has been to ignore evacuation warnings but "die-hard" people in her area are fleeing due to fears over this storm.

Her home was nearly deemed inhabitable after the last storm but she was working on cleaning it before Milton targeted the state.

"My car is totalled, we all were laid off of our job, and [my] belongings were ruined. After this storm hits, I will officially become homeless."

A crew of hurricane hunters flew into the eye of Hurricane Milton on Tuesday, braving the 160mph (270km/h) winds to collect data for the National Hurricane Center.

Among them was Maxwell Alejandro Frost, congressman for central Florida, who describes the "extremely intense" turbulence during the eight hour flight, in an aircraft called "Miss Piggy". Watch below:

Meteorologists are warning Hurricane Milton could cause "several tornadoes", as Florida braces for the storm's arrival.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (Noaa) says the category five storm will likely trigger scattered thunderstorms across the central and southern Florida peninsula.

The Noaa noted current forecasts suggest conditions will "favour supercell development with a potential for tornadoes".

"As Hurricane Milton moves across the Florida Peninsula today, several tornadoes will be likely across parts of the central and southern Florida Peninsula, into the Florida Keys," it says.

"The tornado threat is expected to persist through the late afternoon and into the evening as the band moves to the eastern coast of Florida."

Image source, EPA

Steve Paris, from Tampa, says he's chosen to stay at home ahead of Hurricane Milton's arrival, as he believes it's "now too late" to leave.

"If we leave, do we get caught in the storm in our car? Which is something we don’t want to do," he tells BBC Radio 5 Live's Breakfast programme.

Steve adds that his area, Temple Terrace, is not under an evacuation order, but shops have still closed.

"We weren’t able to get some supplies we wanted like sheets of wood to cover windows so we used tape and cardboard to help with any window shattering that could possibly happen," he adds.

There is a a swamp in the backyard of Steve's house, which sits on a slant. He says he's had to use plastic sheets and sandbags to stop water entering his garage.

"If that doesn’t hold up and the storm decides to shift again, if it does get through there’s big concerns for us because there’s alligators back there, if the water gets too high," he says.

About 28 counties are now under a hurricane warning ahead of Milton's arrival in Florida, according to the states Division of Emergency Management (FDEM).

"Finalise your disaster plans, charge all of your devices & continue to heed all orders from local officials," the agency says. , external

Floridians have been told to prepare for the state's largest evacuation effort in years, with Governor Ron DeSantis warning that a "monster" is on the way.

Disaster management authorities have also issued a list and map, external of the evacuation orders, and several shelters have also been prepared as a last resort for those stranded.

Image source, Reuters

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects Milton to make landfall as an "extremely dangerous hurricane" in the US state of Florida on Wednesday night, local time.

It could strike near the city of Tampa, whose wider metropolitan area has a population of more than three million people.

Forecasters are warning of torrential rain, flash flooding, high winds and possible storm surges - which occur when water moves inland from the coast.

They say Milton could be the worst storm to hit the area in about a century - with a surge of 10-15ft (3-4.5m) possible, and localised rainfall of up to 1.5ft.

While the hurricane dropped in intensity on Tuesday before returning to category five status, officials warned that it could double in size before striking Florida on Wednesday.

The core of the hurricane is expected to pass over west-central Florida, with a large storm surge expected along a swathe of the state's coast ahead of landfall.

Read more here.

Christal Hayes
Live reporter

If you decide to live in Florida, you inevitably are entered into the "hurricane lottery," Gerald Lemus tells me from a hotel he's fled to.

Lemus has lived in the Gulf Coast city of Bradenton his whole life and has never evacuated until now. He saw the region devastated by Helene and watched as Milton quickly intensified. He made the decision to leave for Kissimmee - a more inland city - as he glanced over at his 8-year-old daughter watching Bluey.

"I just looked at her and I couldn't traumatise her to something like this," he told me. "It's a gamble we weren't willing to make."

His one-story home was built in the 1950s and has an older roof and windows.

"A category five, that is like a giant tornado coming at you," he said. "I wouldn't want to be there. This will be a life-changing storm no matter where it hits."

Chynna Perkins wrestled with the idea to evacuate her Tampa home but she and her husband have two large dogs. She felt safe in her newer construction home.

"I don't think people really understand how much planning has to go into a decision like this," she told me. "There's so much traffic and barely any gas available right now. People are running out of gas on the highway."

Researchers have captured a birds-eye view of Hurricane Milton as it moves towards Florida.

Nasa astronaut Matthew Dominick took a timelapse video from onboard the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft showing the storm's vast size:

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US reporter

Thousands of prison and jail inmates have been moved before Hurricane Milton strikes land in Florida, according to the state's Department of Corrections.

In an update online, the Florida Department of Corrections, or FDC, said that a total of 4,636 inmates have so far been evacuated from the path of the storm "without compromising public safety".

Prisoners were moved from nearly 30 facilities, including work camps, it said.

Category five hurricanes are considered "catastrophic" by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (Noaa).

They carry wind speeds greater than 155mph (249km/h) and can cause "very severe and extensive damage".

The US government agency urges "massive evacuations" in residential areas near shorelines, since a category five hurricane can also bring storm surges that exceed 18ft (5m) and destroy many homes.

Trees and power lines can also be downed, causing the isolation of residential areas and lengthy power cuts. Noaa says affected areas can be left uninhabitable for weeks or months.

Data from Noaa, external shows that at least 40 storms in the Atlantic have reached category five status since 1924, though only four have actually hit land at that strength.

Read more: When will Hurricane Milton hit Florida?

Image source, NOAA/Reuters

Here's some of the latest images from Florida, where some residents are boarding up windows ahead of Hurricane Milton's arrival:

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Aoife Walsh
Live page editor

Millions of people are being ordered to leave their homes ahead of Hurricane Milton's arrival on the west coast of Florida.

The category five storm, with ferocious winds of up to 165mph (270km/h), is expected to be the most powerful to hit the area in a century.

Last night, US President Joe Biden warned leaving the area was a matter of "life and death". "Evacuate now, now, now," he told Florida residents.

The storm has prompted the state's largest evacuation effort in years, with Governor Ron DeSantis warning that a "monster" is on the way.

The storm comes less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene - the deadliest mainland storm since Katrina in 2005 - pummelled the US south-east, killing at least 225. Hundreds more are missing

We’ll be bringing you the latest updates here throughout.

Sam Hancock
Live page editor, in Washington DC

Hours after police in Tampa, Florida, described Hurricane Milton as the "storm of the century", weather officials upgraded it to a category five storm - with wind speeds of up to 165mph (270km/h).

Residents have started evacuating the area, with President Biden saying doing so was a "matter of life and death". One Tampa resident, Steve Crist, spoke to the BBC while boarding up the windows of his dentist surgery. "Everyone’s gone. I’ve never seen it so quiet," he said of his community.

Those staying put have been photographed taking the necessary precautions at home, with forecasters warning of torrential rain, flash flooding, high winds and possible storm surges - which occur when water moves inland from the coast - of 10-15ft (3-4.5m).

Milton is due to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday night, less than two weeks after the devastating arrival of Hurricane Helene, which went on to kill at least 225 people across six states. We have teams on the ground who'll bring us the latest throughout tomorrow and into Thursday.

We're pausing our live coverage now but if you want to keep reading about the storm's developments, head to our main news story. Or if it's an explainer you're after, this answers some of the key questions.

Image source, EPA

More Floridians (see our last post) have been explaining their decision to flee ahead of Hurricane Milton's arrival in the US state tomorrow.

Musician John O'Leary, 38, tells Reuters news agency he's disappointed to have left his piano behind - but says he's "in survival mode".

"This storm is so strong, big, it's unreal," he adds.

State ferryboat operator Ken Wood, 58, plans to flee with his 16-year old cat after riding out Helene. He describes Helene as being one of the scariest moments of his life: "We won't make the same mistake again."

Mark Feinman, 38, explains how he drove his family 13 hours to reach the Alabama border. Along the way, he passed long queues of cars seeking petrol. "Luckily we have a hybrid, and we're able to switch between gas and the battery," he says.

State officials are trucking petrol to stations, according to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The state has also set up temporary electric vehicle charging stations.