Soon, the core of Hurricane Beryl is expected to pass near or over the Southern part of Jamaica, a US National Hurricane Center spokesman says.

"Gusts well into category three or category four hurricane range, across much of the island... (will be) here in the next few hours," Dr Michael Brennan says.

That means windspeeds up to 249km/h (155mph).

"We're also concerned for potentially life-threatening storm surge inundation... pushing water levels six to nine feet (up to 2.7m) above normal," Brennan says.

He is strongly advising people to shelter in place through the evening.

We're hearing an update now from Dr Michael Brennan, director at the US National Hurricane Center.

He says conditions over Jamaica are going to "rapidly deteriorate over the next few hours".

Dr Brennan warns people in Jamaica to stay in their safe place for the next 12 hours "at least".

The US National Hurricane Center is about to give an update. We will bring you those details shortly.

This is latest information we have on Hurricane Beryl:

• Hurricane conditions are expected in Jamaica in the coming hours. The storm is about 125km (75 miles) away from the city of Kingston and is moving at 18mph
• The eye of Beryl is expected to approach the Cayman Islands later tonight, local time
• Maximum sustained winds are still 145mph with stronger gusts - category four
• The Meteorological Service of Mexico has issued a hurricane warning for the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula from Puerto Costa Maya to Cancun
• The Hurricane Watch for SW Haiti has been discontinued

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released a composite satellite image over the Caribbean Sea - showing Hurricane Beryl approaching Jamaica.

Image source, NOAA

Image source, Getty Images

The US National Hurricane Center has warned of a "devastating life-threatening storm surge and damaging waves" in parts of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

Hurricane Beryl's passage through the Caribbean is expected to cause heavy rainfall, which could lead to life-threatening flash floods and mudslides in Haiti's Tiburon Peninsula.

Localised flash floods are also expected in Belize, where the National Hurricane Center predicts about 2 to 6 inches of rainfall (5-15cm) on Thursday and Friday.

The warning adds that there is still some uncertainty about Beryl's path over the western Gulf of Mexico, and that it should continue to be monitored for the next couple of days.

We're expecting another update from the National Hurricane Center in the next 15 minutes, stick with us.

Citizens in Cancún, Mexico - which borders the Caribbean Sea - have been buying supplies in preparation for Hurricane Beryl, which is anticipated to affect the city in the coming days.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Hurricane Beryl, at its peak, had maximum sustained wind speeds of more than 160mph (257km/h), making it the earliest category five Atlantic hurricane on record in roughly a century.

Usually, such strong storms only develop later in the season, after the seas have heated up through the summer.

But exceptionally high sea surface temperatures have been seen as a key reason why Hurricane Beryl has been so powerful - and arrived so soon.

Hurricanes generally need the sea surface to be at least 27C in order to have a chance of developing.

As the map above shows, waters along Hurricane Beryl’s path have been exceptionally warm for this early in the season.

Scientists are linking that to human-led climate change.

“We know that as we warm the planet, we’re warming our sea surface temperatures as well,” Andra Garner, an assistant professor at Rowan University in the US, told the BBC.

“As we’re warming the planet, we’re essentially 'stacking the deck' of extreme events against ourselves, making events like Hurricane Beryl not only possible, but more likely," Garner adds.

You can read more on the analysis here.

If you're just joining us, or need a recap, here's what you need to know:

• On Monday, Hurricane Beryl became the earliest storm to develop into a category five hurricane in the Atlantic. It has since been downgraded to category four, which is still highly destructive and could cause severe damage

• Hurricane Beryl has caused devastation in the Caribbean this week, killing seven people in Grenada, Venezuela and St Vincent and the Grenadines
• It's on course to hit Jamaica today, with officials from the US National Hurricane Center warning it has the “potential for devastating to catastrophic wind damage”
• Life-threatening storm surges, flash flooding and mudslides are expected over parts of Jamaica and southern Haiti

• Jamaica's information minister Dana Morris Dixon says there are more than 900 shelters on the island nation and that "everything is in place" to deal with the hurricane
• After it hits Jamaica, the hurricane is expected to surge towards the Cayman Islands and then continue west towards Mexico

Why is Hurricane Beryl so strong?published at 14:45 3 July

14:45 3 July

Ben Rich
BBC Weather

Image source, Getty Images

Hurricane Beryl became the earliest category five storm ever to be recorded in the Atlantic - no wonder it caused such devastation as it moved across the Windward Islands.

Hurricanes are fuelled by warm ocean waters and while the hurricane season runs from June through to November, the very strongest storms tend to occur around the middle of the season when sea surface temperatures are typically at their highest.

This year, however, the warmth has come early. In fact, Beryl has been moving over waters that are 2-3C warmer than we would normally expect at this time of year - and it is likely that this has played a significant role in its strength. This is part of a pattern of extremely high sea temperatures around the globe over the last year.

Beryl has weakened a little but is now approaching Jamaica and is still expected to be a major hurricane as its eye passes close to the island later today, bringing destructive winds, flooding rain and a storm surge that could inundate low-lying areas.

Image source, Facebook/Reuters

As we've been reporting, the deadly hurricane has killed at least seven people in Grenada, Venezuela and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Grenada's prime minister Dickon Mitchell described the situation as "Armageddon-like" in a video briefing on Tuesday.

Mitchell stressed that Carriacou and Petite Martinique bore the brunt of the storm.

"There is no power. There is almost complete destruction of homes and buildings," he said, citing impassable roads due to downed power lines.

Image source, Getty Images

After Jamaica, Hurricane Beryl is on course to head west and hit the Cayman Islands - a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean Sea.

Its governor, Jane Owen, released a message to residents yesterday, external to reassure that the territory "will be prepared to face whatever the storm may bring". She added that the UK "stands ready to assist and support us, should the situation escalate".

Owen urged people to complete their storm preparations and "assist and check on vulnerable neighbours, families, and friends".

She said people should write down emergency phone numbers, identify their nearest shelter and the various routes to it, plus ensure spare batteries, radios and flashlights are on hand: "I am confident that all residents of the Cayman Islands will rise to the occasion as they have always done."

As we said in our last post, Venezuela - on the northern coast of South America - may not have been hit directly by Hurricane Beryl, but it has suffered as a result of heavy rain triggered by the storm.

These images, from the north-eastern state of Sucre, show homes flooded, roads destroyed and people trying to clean up the mess.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Venezuela may not have been in the direct path of Hurricane Beryl, but heavy rains triggered by the storm have nevertheless caused deadly flooding there.

President Nicolás Maduro said that at least three people had been killed when a river in the north-eastern state of Sucre overflowed.

A government delegation sent to inspect the damage in Sucre only narrowly escaped becoming fatal victims of the storm themselves when a tree fell on top of them.

Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez was among those injured, according to Maduro, who said she was "very bruised but conscious".

Globally, the frequency of tropical cyclones has not increased and in fact, the number may have fallen, external - although long-term data is limited in some regions.

But it is "likely" that a higher proportion of tropical cyclones across the globe are reaching Category 3 or above, meaning they reach the highest wind speeds, according to the UN's climate body, the IPCC.

It quotes "medium confidence" that there has been an increase in the average and peak rainfall rates associated with tropical cyclones.

The frequency and magnitude of "rapid intensification events" in the Atlantic has likely increased, external. This is where maximum wind speeds increase very quickly, which can be especially dangerous.

There also seems to have been a slowdown in the speed at which hurricanes move, external across the Earth's surface.

You can read more on the analysis here.

Image source, .

Image source, Reuters

Earlier today, the BBC World Service's Newshour programme spoke to BBC correspondent Nick Davis in Jamaica.

Davis was asked how preparations for Hurricane Beryl were affecting people’s daily lives and described an “almost a run on the supermarkets” with people grabbing “as much as they could, as quickly as they could”.

He said properties with roofs made from shingle tiles or zinc are particularly vulnerable.

Davis added that there's no "panic" due to the frequency of severe weather in the Caribbean.

When asked about the impact of climate change, Davis said it “makes living in these parts of the world harder”.

“The Caribbean is right in the way” when it comes to extreme weather events in the region, he added.

Image source, Getty Images

Jamaica's information minister has told the BBC World Service's Newsday programme that the government has put "everything in place to deal with a hurricane of this strength".

Dana Morris Dixon says there are more than 900 shelters across the country and an evacuation process for those in flood-prone and low-lying areas.

"We know that we're susceptible to hurricanes... so we've been able to put in place a lot of very interesting financial instruments", she says.

Dixon says Jamaica has two "buffers" - a catastrophe bond and a disaster fund - that help pay for rebuilding, following a natural disaster like a hurricane.

"In the past, we never really had that, so if a hurricane came, we weren't really as resilient and able to find the money in order to do the rebuilding exercise."

Preparations are underway in Jamaica for the imminent arrival of Hurricane Beryl.

Shelters are stocking up, homes are being safeguarded and boats have been pulled from the water.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness says electricity and water services are likely to be shut off as a precaution - to prevent fires and damage to equipment.

He told residents, external to stock up on candles or batteries, saying people should be careful lighting fires - as it would be "very difficult" for firefighters to respond.

In the capital Kingston, cars queued at petrol stations as people filled containers with extra fuel.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Hurricanes are powerful storms which develop in warm tropical ocean waters.

In other parts of the world, they are known as cyclones or typhoons.

Together, these storms are referred to as "tropical cyclones".

Tropical storms become hurricanes when they reach peak sustained wind speeds of 74mph (119km/h).

'Major' hurricanes (Category 3 and above) are those reaching at least 111mph (178km/h).

Image source, .

Hurricane Beryl is moving towards Jamaica and is expected to arrive later on Wednesday - before reaching the Cayman Islands.

It's expected to reach the Yucatan Peninsula by Friday.

Maxar Technologies has released satellite images showing the impact of Hurricane Beryl in Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Image source, Maxar Technologies

Image source, Maxar Technologies

Image source, Maxar Technologies