Four people are confirmed dead in Jamaica while at least 20 others have died in Haiti in flooding as a result of Hurricane Melissa
The hurricane made landfall on Tuesday as a category five storm in Jamaica, where people remain stuck on roofs and without power
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness vows to devote "all our energy" to a strong recovery
The town of Black River, the PM says, is "totally destroyed" - one woman tells the BBC she hasn't been unable to reach her aunt there, saying: "I know something is not right"
Hurricane Melissa, now a category one storm, is expected to bring violent winds and heavy rainfall when it reaches The Bahamas in the next few hours - it will then make its way to Bermuda on Thursday
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It's 06:00 in Jamaica, and the sun is rising.
We will soon start to get a clearer picture of the damage Hurricane Melissa has left behind.
We'll be keeping an eye out for all the latest updates and images, stay with us.
Vanessa Buschschlüter
Latin America and Caribbean editor
The earlier arrival of Hurricane Melissa in the Communist-ruled island of Cuba prompted a message from the island's 94-year-old former leader, Raúl Castro.
Raúl Castro, who succeeded his older brother Fidel in office, told the National Defence Council that "we will again emerge victorious from this latest challenge".
Castro, who stepped down from the powerful position of First Secretary of the Communist Party in 2021, said "maximum discipline" would be needed to weather the storm.
Cuba's hurricane preparedness - the country conducts annual drills to prepare for disasters - has meant that it has in the past suffered comparably fewer hurricane-related deaths than other Caribbean nations.
The authorities prided itself on the fact that ahead of Melissa making landfall, more than 730,000 people had been evacuated to shelters.
But this hurricane catches Cuba at a particularly dire time. The island is in the grip of its deepest economic crisis in decades.
The country's antiquated power system collapsed several times over the past year, plunging the whole nation into darkness.
Key infrastructure is crumbling and there have been shortages of fuel - needed to operate generators - and medicines, all of which is going to make recovery from potential storm damage a lot more challenging.
Simon King
Presenter and meteorologist, BBC Weather
Image source, EPAAs we reported earlier, Melissa is the most powerful hurricane on record to make a direct hit on Jamaica.
But, across the wider Atlantic, Melissa was noteworthy for the following:
Additionally, the Hurricane Hunters - who fly into hurricanes making crucial observations - measured an instantaneous gust of 252mph just above the ocean surface before landfall.
For context, this comes in marginally behind the world record for the highest wind gust ever observed in a tropical cyclone of 253mph during Cyclone Olivia, which struck Western Australia in April 1996.
Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesAcross Jamaica, there are several reports of roofs being ripped off buildings - like this one in St Catherine near Kingston
Verna Genus was sheltering in her four bedroom home in the village of Carlisle, St Elizabeth, Jamaica, when Hurricane Melissa ripped the zinc roof off her house.
The 73-year-old vegetable farmer was at her home on the west coast of the island with her sons and baby grandchild when the hurricane made landfall.
St Elizabeth is one of the areas worst hit by the hurricane - the wind and rain were howling loudly and there was no visibility outside.
Verna has lost communications due to the power lines being down, but she phoned her UK-based sister June Powell after the roof came off. I've been speaking to June this morning.
"She was crying on the phone," June tells me. She adds Verna told her: "You are huddled up inside and then you look up then the roof is gone.
"She was wailing 'we are all finished.'"
June hopes Verna found shelter elsewhere, though it was too dangerous during the hurricane to go out into the street. She is waiting for the phone networks to be restored so she can talk to her again.
Simon King
Presenter and meteorologist, BBC Weather
Image source, National Hurricane CenterSince making landfall near the city of Chivirico in south-east Cuba, Melissa has been moving north-east over eastern Cuba.
As a result of the rugged Cuban terrain and after encountering some drier air and wind shear - meaning changes in wind speed and direction with height - Melissa has been weakening slightly.
But with winds of 115mph, it still remains a category 3 hurricane and continues to bring damaging winds and dangerous conditions.
It will move back out to sea by around 08:00 local time.
Hurricane Melissa has been slow moving, travelling at 5mph, which is roughly walking pace - particularly during its intensification to category 5 before hitting Jamaica.
It has now picked up some forward speed and is travelling at 10-15mph, which is more typical for a hurricane.
The hurricane will pass through the central Bahamas later before tracking close to Bermuda late on Thursday, as a category 1 hurricane.
Nick Davis
Reporting from Kingston, Jamaica
The normal soundtrack that accompanies Jamaican life is silent because many people don't have electricity.
About three-quarters of the island is without power, and many parts of the western side of the island are either under water or have homes destroyed by the strong winds.
We don't know anything about casualties yet, as one of the main things you need to get up and running during a disaster is telecoms.
The storm has put real pressure on the phone systems, as many telephone polls and cell towers have come down.
The government is trying to put in place a plan to use satellite communication to improve their own communication on the ground. It is going to take physical assessments, helicopters going out, to assess what's needed.
It is expected that the airport here in Kingston is going to be up and operational to receive relief flights - but Montego Bay, one of the island's main tourist destinations, is a mess.
Jamaica has a catastrophe bond (a type of insurance for the country), which will hopefully allow people to get back on their feet - but the issue is what's done in the interim.
The average person here does not have the average safety net that you see in more economically developed countries.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, EPA/National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationA satellite image taken shortly before Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Jamaica
Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a category five hurricane on Tuesday, making it the strongest to hit the island in modern history.
A category five hurricane - the strongest on the scale - is one which meets the wind speed threshold of 157mph (252 km/h) or higher.
Hurricane Melissa's estimated maximum sustained wind speeds of 185 mph (295 km/h) were well above that threshold as it made landfall.
It weakened as it passed over Jamaica, eventually dropping to a category three when it made landfall in Cuba.
A category three hurricane is defined by the National Hurricane Center as a "major" hurricane that can cause "devastating damage".
The strongest storm to directly hit Jamaica before Melissa was Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, which made landfall as a category four hurricane, according to the US National Weather Service.
Image source, Getty ImagesSantiago de Cuba, pictured yesterday, is the largest city in the east of the country
Damaging winds and heavy rain have hit eastern Cuba, according to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center.
Flooding and dangerous storm surges caused by Hurricane Melissa are expected to hit the region, it says.
The storm is generating wind speeds of 115mph (185km/h), but travelling at just 12mph (19km/h) - that means it is staying over areas with these powerful winds for longer, potentially causing even more damage.
The epicentre of the hurricane is passing over Cuba at the opposite end of the island to Havana, the capital city.
The eastern region's largest cities include Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo - where hurricane warnings are in effect.
As Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Cuba, we're looking to speak to people who have been impacted by the hurricane or those who are worried for their loved ones.
If it is safe to do so, you can get in touch with us in the following ways:
In some cases a selection of your comments and questions will be published, displaying your name and location as you provide it unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published.
Hurricane Melissa has made landfall in Cuba. The category three hurricane is hitting the south east coast of the country with sustained winds of 120mph.
In Jamaica, which was battered by the then category five hurricane yesterday, locals are waiting for daylight to assess the damage.
After hitting Cuba, the hurricane is expected to weaken as it moves north-east towards the Bahamas and Bermuda.
And in Haiti, to the east of Cuba, people have been seeking shelter in buildings such as schools. It is not thought that the eye of the hurricane will pass over Haiti.
Here's a look at the path of the hurricane, which is expected to travel away from the Caribbean islands later this evening.
Image source, AFPA flooded street in the city of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on Tuesday
As we've been reporting, Melissa has made landfall in Cuba as a category three hurricane - yesterday it hit Jamaica as a category five.
The assessments of strength and location come from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).
It uses the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, where a category one is the weakest, and category five is the strongest.
The categories are defined by the hurricane's maximum sustained wind speed - although individual gusts can be stronger.
For a category one the range is 74-95 mph (119-153 km/h), for a three it's 111-129 mph (178-208 km/h), and a five has a maximum sustained wind speed of 157mph (252 km/h) or higher.
As a reminder, the NHC said there were sustained winds of 120mph when Melissa made landfall in Cuba in the past hour.
Cuba
Jamaica
Image source, AFPA woman walks in a street before Hurricane Melissa hits the city of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on Tuesday
We've heard this morning from Wayne Gibson, a British tourist who's on holiday in Ochos Rios, on the north coast of Jamaica, with his wife and two teenage daughters.
He tells Radio 4's Today programme they have been sheltering in his hotel, with the wind and rain still "very very intense".
"The rain is lashing on the big glass panels which is unnerving and unsettling," he says.
The hotel will not allow the guests to go to their rooms, and are being told to stay in the communal shelter for their safety, he adds.
"We are tired - but we can't forget those in a worse position than us."
Image source, EPAA flooded street in Kingston, as seen on Tuesday evening
The BBC's Nick Davis has just sent this report from Kingston, Jamaica.
Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Cuba as a category three storm, the US National Hurricane Center says.
"Sustained" winds up to 120mph (193km/h) are hitting the southern coast of the country.
The mayor of Montego Bay says one half of the city in north-west Jamaica has been cut off from the other by flood waters.
"It has been a very long wait for this storm and it has been a very long day for us battling through the storm," Richard Vernon tells BBC Breakfast.
He says attention is now turning to dealing with the impact - although they are still expecting storm surges.
Heavy rain has led to "massive floods right across the city of Montego Bay", he says, but already there have been reports that the flood water is receding.
It's currently the middle of the night in Jamaica and more information is expected in the morning.
The first thing they have to do now is "check if everybody is alive", he says - adding they haven't had any reports of casualties or deaths so far.
Simon King
Presenter and meteorologist, BBC Weather
Image source, NOAAHurricane Melissa is about to hit eastern Cuba
After making landfall in Jamaica as one of the most powerful hurricanes on record in the Atlantic, Melissa started to weaken.
The energy from the warm waters of the Caribbean was cut off as it moved north-eastward across the island bringing the destructive winds and flooding rains.
Once the centre of Melissa cleared the north coast of Jamaica overnight, its energy source of the warm waters led the storm to re-intensify back up to a major category 4 hurricane with a well-defined eye.
Making its second landfall in south-east Cuba as a category 3 with sustained wind speeds of 125mph, it will be one of the most powerful storms to hit the Island since Irma in 2017.
Melissa will then weaken further but also pick up some speed as it tracks north-eastward, crossing the Bahamas later today and then towards Bermuda on Thursday, still retaining its strength as a category 1 hurricane.
Image source, EPADebris seen on Tuesday evening in Kingston, Jamaica
It's currently 01:30 in the morning Jamaica - Hurricane Melissa has passed over the island, but the damage will not begin to become clear until daybreak.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness yesterday declared the island a "disaster area", and warned of "devastating impacts"
"Reports that we have had so far would include damage to hospitals, significant damage to residential property, housing and commercial property as well," Holness said last night.
Holness posted this image last night, declaring the island a "disaster area"
As we've just reported, Hurricane Melissa is about to hit Cuba, after passing through Jamaica.
In Haiti - to the east of Cuba - people are spending the night in shelters as wind and rains batters the country.
Image source, ReutersIt is now nighttime in Haiti, where a tropical storm warning is in place - these people are sheltering in a school building
Image source, ReutersShelter was found beneath chalk boards in Les Cayes
In its latest advisory, the National Hurricane Center says Melissa has weakened slightly to a category 3 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (205 km/h).
Melissa is expected to remain a powerful hurricane when it moves across Cuba and the Bahamas and passes near Bermuda, it says.
