We are now pausing our live coverage of Hurricane Beryl's passage through the Caribbean. You can find all the latest updates in our news story.

And if you still wish to know more, here is some further reading on our website about the hurricane:

• 'Almost whole island homeless' in Hurricane Beryl's wake
• Hurricane Beryl: Record-breaking sign of warming world
• In pictures: Hurricane Beryl devastates Caribbean islands

This page was written by Hollie Cole, Seher Asaf, Nadine Yousif, Gabriela Pomeroy, Max Matza, Brandon Drenon and Ali Abbas Ahmadi. It was edited by Nathan Williams, Sam Hancock, Emily Atkinson, Sophie Abdulla and Malu Cursino in London and Brandon Livesay in Washington DC.

Image source, Reuters

Hurricane Beryl is moving closer to Jamaica's southern coast, as the category four storm continues to engulf the Caribbean and leave a trail of destruction behind.

We'll soon be pausing our coverage, but before we go here are some of the latest developments:

• In its most recent update, Jamaica's met office warned of "dangerously high water" and "exceptionally high waves" as Hurricane Beryl moves close to the Caribbean island's coastline. The ocean tide is rising in Jamaica and huge waves can be seen off the coast
• Rough seas are bringing floodwaters to land and some roads are closed as a result of flooding and fallen trees, according to Jamaica's Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management
• The National Hurricane Center (NHC) says the storm is expected be carrying winds of 155mph (240km/h) in the coming hours

• The Cayman Islands and Mexico are next on the hurricane's path, as they prepare to feel the brunt of Beryl after it passes Jamaica
• Hurricane Beryl is the earliest storm to develop into a category five hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean. It has since downgraded to a category four, which is still highly destructive and can cause severe damage

Image source, Reuters

Parts of Jamaica have experienced disruption to power and electricity supplies, with the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) saying it was forced to pause restoration of power lines in some locations for the safety of their workers.

The country's electricity supplier, says it has become unsafe for its staff to continue working "as the effects of Hurricane Beryl become more serious".

But JPS explains it is on standby to continue restoring power to affected areas as soon as it is safe to do so.

Image source, Getty Images

Jamaica’s met office has issued a warning of "dangerously high water" and "exceptionally high waves" as Hurricane Beryl moves close to the Caribbean island's southern coastline.

The eye of the storm is expected to move adjacent to the southern coastline of Jamaica, the service says in an update a post on social media.

The storm is forecast to be “at or near high major hurricane intensity” as it journeys past Jamaica towards the Cayman Islands, which the National Hurricane Center says will happen either Wednesday night or in the early hours of Thursday.

Image source, Getty Images

Jamaica is next on Hurricane Beryl's path, but the dangerous storm has already "wrought havoc" in nearby Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves tells the BBC, particularly in his country's southern islands.

"In the case of the largest of the lot there, Union Island, all the houses are destroyed, it's just mayhem," Gonsalves says.

"And there's no water, there's no electricity, there's public health issues, there's security issues, the hospital is inoperable because it's blown down."

Gonsalves says Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is in the "phase now of humanitarian relief", adding that his country's disaster management system is "stretched tremendously".

"The faces of men and women are strained and anxious, but yet there's a resilience of all people, there's a faith in that we will, and I hope, that we will build back better, stronger, more resilient."

Hurricane Beryl, he says, is "clearly linked" to climate change, and some countries "pay a lot of lip-service to net zero but we don't see the effect".

"We're on the frontline and we're suffering."

Photos from earlier in the day show residents in the Jamaican capital of Kingston preparing as Hurricane Beryl edges closer to the island.

Earlier, the National Hurricane Center warned that "devastating hurricane force winds" reaching up to 155mph (249km/h) could reach the Caribbean nation.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Hurricane Beryl is heading towards Jamaica, where it is expected to make landfall in the coming hours, before barrelling toward the Cayman Islands later in the evening.

Here's what we know so far:

• Hurricane Beryl is the earliest storm to develop into a category five hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean. Category five is the highest on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, where winds can hit 157mph (252km/h) or higher, bringing with it catastrophic damage
• So far, the storm has destroyed large parts of two small islands in Grenada, damaging 98% of the buildings there. Officials called the impact "unimaginable"
• At least seven people have been already killed in the path of the storm, including in Grenada, as well as St Vincent and the Grenadines
• Beryl is now heading towards Jamaica, where evacuation orders have been issued. Officials estimate the storm is about 45 miles (72 km) away from Kingston as of Wednesday afternoon. Devastating hurricane force winds of up to 155mph (249km/h) are expected, with life-threatening storm surges as high as 9ft (2.7m)
• The hurricane is then expected to reach the Cayman Islands by Wednesday evening into Thursday morning, before reaching the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico later in the week

Cruise liners and ships have changed their journeys to avoid Hurricane Beryl.

BBC News has seen letters dated 30 June from Norwegian Cruise Line to guests on board an affected vessel that it had cancelled it stops to the Rotary Islands in Honduras, Belize, and two stops in Mexico.

It has replaced these stops with visits to the Dominican Republic, the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas.

Similarly, Carnival has changed the itinerary to its Carnival Horizon ship, cancelling its stop in the Cayman Islands and Cozumel in Mexico.

Hurricane Beryl has destroyed communities, brought buildings down, and left streets to be lined with debris.

It's killed at least seven people in Grenada, Venezuela and St Vincent and the Grenadines as Hurricane Beryl's travels across the Caribbean.

People in places where the hurricane has already hit are now starting the clean up.

Will Grant
Central America and Cuba correspondent

Image source, Reuters

As Beryl has hammered a path through the Caribbean, leaving communities devastated and homeless in its wake, Mexicans have watched on with some trepidation for their own shores.

With the storm expected to still pack a considerable punch when it reaches the Mexican coast at the end of the week, precautions are already being taken in the southern and eastern states most likely to be affected.

Schools have already closed in Yucatan, Veracruz and Campeche, while the state of Quintana Roo, likely to receive the brunt of the storm, is on alert.

In the popular tourist destination of Cancun, queues of shoppers have formed in hardware stores and supermarkets as people stock up on necessities and board up their homes and businesses as best possible.

Meanwhile, the authorities are getting emergency shelters ready and urging the public to heed advice and take all precautions necessary to preserve life and livelihood.

In the meantime, it remains a waiting game – watching the storm's progression as it hits other nations in the Caribbean and hoping that Hurricane Beryl, the earliest category five storm ever recorded, loses energy as it nears Mexico.

In its latest advisory, posted at 14:00 EST (18:00 GMT), the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) warns that hurricane conditions are about to spread into Jamaica as the eye of Beryl nears the island.

As of this afternoon, Beryl is about 45m (72km) south of Kingston.

Beryl will then make its way to the Cayman Islands, where it is expected to hit on Wednesday evening into Thursday, the NHC says.

A hurricane warning is in effect for Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, as well as the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico from Puerto Costa to Cancun, where Beryl is expected to arrive later in the week.

As Hurricane Beryl nears Jamaica, the country's disaster preparedness body ODPEM and Unicef Jamaica have been issuing safety tips.

• OPDEM has provided a list of emergency shelters and their locations, external
• The body has also compiled a list of emergency contact numbers here, external
• Unicef Jamaica has also shared a list of emergency contact numbers, external and advice on protecting homes, external - telling people to bring outdoor items inside, check for damage to the ceilings, doors or windows and secure all doors

• On protecting pets, ODPEM says to ensure their shelters are secure to prevent wind and flood damage - and also to keep pets close by and order extra supplies of food and medication

Image source, Getty Images

Jamaica's prime minister has urged residents to follow evacuation orders as Hurricane Beryl barrels churns the country.

In a video posted on X, external, Andrew Holness says evacuation orders are in effect for areas prone to floods, landslides, or near sea level, gullies and waterways.

"We urge all Jamaicans to comply with notices to evacuate if and when they are issued," he says.

He adds that those living in low-lying areas, as well as those in areas "historically prone to flooding and landslides or on the banks of a river or a gully", should also move to a shelter or safer areas even if there's currently no evacuation order.

In a satellite composite photo provided by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the eye of Hurricane Beryl can be seen barrelling towards the island of Jamaica, just south of Cuba.

As of Wednesday afternoon local time, the hurricane's centre is about 50 miles (80 km) south-southeast of Kingston, the capital of Jamaica.

Images from above show hurricane force winds have already hit the island's south-eastern shore, and Montego Bay's airport has recorded a wind gust of 53 mph (85 km/h) in the last hour.

Image source, Reuters/NOAA

Nick Davis
Reporting from Jamaica

Electricity has been cut off in some parts of the capital, Kingston - a move by authorities to protect the power grid in anticipation of the category four hurricane.

The road leading to the airport serving the city, Norman Manley International - which is on a peninsula - is blocked, as the giant boulders used as a wall for coastal protection have been breached.

Social media posts show sections of the road strewn with debris.

Hurricane Beryl is expected to hit Jamaica in the coming hours.

After that - it will move towards the Cayman Islands and Yucatán Peninsula.

Image source, .

Nick Davis
Reporting from Jamaica

It’s a weird situation waiting for a hurricane, it’s like watching a car crash in slow motion knowing that there’s no superhuman power that’s moving what’s coming towards you. You have to hope some sort of meteorological miracle that will save you and yours.

The reality is some you win and some you lose with these storms, people in the region know there will be the possibility of a potentially life-ending, life-changing hurricane every year, you hope it isn’t you. But you know it will happen sooner or later.

That’s the Caribbean predicament and one that gets more stark year by year as the storms get more frequent, more violent and in the case of Hurricane Beryl, starting earlier.

Michael Brennan, the director of the National Hurricane Center, has just given an update on Hurricane Beryl. Here are the latest points.

• In Jamaica, "devastating hurricane force winds" reaching up to 155mph (249km/h) are expected in the next few hours. Life-threatening storm surges as high as nine feet (2.7m) are also expected. "Everybody in Jamaica needs to be in their safe place and be prepared to stay there," Brennan said.
• Rainfall could hit 12 inches (30cm) in some areas of Jamaica, which could cause flooding and mudslides

• In the Cayman Islands, Brennan said "we are expecting those same hazards" - hurricane force winds, storm surges and heavy rainfall.
• In the Yucatán Peninsula - which includes parts of south-east Mexico and Belize - hurricane warnings are in place beginning Thursday.
• In north-eastern Mexico and the Texas coast, Hurricane Beryl is expected to drop to tropical storm category over the weekend, with the possibility of re-strengthening to a hurricane by Sunday. Texas residents are being warned to watch for updates.

Hurricane warnings are also in effect for the Cayman Islands.

The eye of Hurricane Beryl is expected to pass "near or over" portions of the Caymans overnight on Wednesday or early Thursday, National Hurricane Center director Dr Michael Brennan says.

The Caymans will experience storm surges up to 4ft (1.2m) above average, along with inches of rain, and isolated amounts of rain as high as 6 inches.

Also in that update - the National Hurricane Center says it is expecting to see rainfall of four to eight inches (up to 20cm) across Jamaica.

But there could be "isolated amounts" as high as 12 inches (30cm), which Dr Michael Brennan says will cause "life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides".

Dr Brennan says we will see the core of the "major hurricane" pass near or over the southern portion of the island.