Irma's forces are so strong that it has been pulling water from Tampa's shores, something that residents who have lived there all their lives have never seen before. Ahead of the storm's arrival on Sunday night - and before a 6pm city-wide curfew - some people walked into Hillsborough Bay to take photographs of the phenomenon.

Image source, Reuters

Earlier, the same thing happened as Irma approached Key Largo.

Before Irma began climbing up Florida's west coast, it made landfall in the Florida Keys archipelago.

The latest forecast from the National Hurricane Centre warns of a continuing risk from storm surge flooding.

The BBC's Harry Low is heading to Tampa, on Florida's west coast which is expected to feel the full force of Hurricane Irma in the coming hours.

So what do we know about the impacts of Irma on Florida so far?

• At least 28 people have been killed as a result of the hurricane, three of them in Florida
• More than 2.3 million people in the state are without power
• Some 70,000 people are in storm shelters
• There are warnings of life-threatening storm surge flooding along much of the west coast
• President Trump has approved a major disaster declaration and emergency federal aid

Several cities and counties in Florida have declared overnight curfews to prevent looting, amid reports that some individuals have been taking advantage of homes left vacant by people fleeing the hurricane.

At least five people died in the British Virgin Islands during Hurricane Irma. The BBC's Laura Bicker witnesses the devastation in Tortola.

Charlotte Davis is on honeymoon with her family in Davenport, Orlando, but she says they've been offered no help to prepare for the hurricane in the villa where they are staying.

"We're expecting it to hit in about 5 hours (02:00 GMT) but we have had no help at all so far.

"There is a huge amount of glass and no-one has boarded the windows up. We'll have to hide in a walk-in wardrobe."

Hurricane Irma has weakened to a category two storm, with maximum wind speeds of 110mph (177km/h), the National Hurricane Center, external has said. While the storm is set to weaken further, it is likely to remain a hurricane at least until early on Monday, the centre added.

More from President Trump (see 22:34 entry).

The approved federal funding includes "grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programmes to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster," the White House says.

Below is the full statement.

These are some of the latest images from Florida, as the hurricane continues to wreak havoc in the state.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

US President Donald Trump has approved a major disaster declaration for Florida, the White House says.

He has also ordered federal aid to help the southern state.

Meteoroligst Gary Szatkowski tweets that the water level has now risen more than 6ft (1.82m) at Naples.

The damage from Hurricane Irma is reportedly massive throughout the Keys archipelago, the Miami Herald, external says, and it reports that supplies and personnel could be landing in the area by Monday morning.

More than 2.4 million homes and businesses have now lost power in Florida, according to the state's major utility companies. Most outages were in Florida Power and Light's, external southern and eastern service areas. In some places it is expected to be weeks, not days before power is restored.

The BBC's Laura Bicker has been hearing some frightening accounts of when Irma hit the British Virgin Islands.

The BBC's Paul Blake is in the British Virgin Islands, where local officials are attempting to restore order in the wake of the destruction left behind by Irma.

President Donald Trump has said he plans to travel to Florida "very soon".

“I hope there aren’t too many people in that path," he said of Hurricane Irma, which he called "some big monster".

"We tried to warn everybody. That’s a bad path to be in.”

Trump also heaped praise on Fema officials and the US Coast Guard, saying the response was going "really well".