Met Office issues hurricane warning as 'destructive beast' heads for Florida

The Met Office has warned that a tropical storm moving through the Gulf Of Mexico will become a 'major hurricane' before hitting Florida.

Forecasters warned the hurricane could be a 'very destructive beast', bringing strong winds and heavy rainfall to parts of the United States from later on this week.

The storm, which has been given the name Helene, is currently strengthening as it moves north over the Caribbean Sea. It is forecast to be “near hurricane strength” when it passes near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, the US National Hurricane Centre said, and to “intensify and grow in size” as it moves north across the Gulf of Mexico.

READ MORE: Major hurricane to hit US as 'state of emergency' declared in Florida

In the Met Office's latest 'deep dive' weather forecast, meteorologist Aidan McGivern said the tropical would "develop very quickly". moving through the Gulf of Mexico and hitting Florida "as a major hurricane sometime around Thursday night UK time".

He said: "This could be a very destructive beast. It could bring large amounts of sea surge, damaging winds and flash flooding as there's likely to be, along its path, 200mm to 400mm of rainfall." He added that meteorologists across the world would be monitoring the storm over the next couple of days.

In Georgia and Florida, officials have declared emergencies as they prepare for the impact of the storm, with some homes being evacuated and schools choosing to remain closed.

Helene is expected to become a major hurricane, meaning Category 3 or higher, according to the US National Hurricane Centre, which has issued warnings for part of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and Florida’s northwestern coastline. People in regions under hurricane warnings and watches should be prepared to lose power and should have enough food and water for at least three days, forecasters warned.

Larry Kelly, a specialist at the hurricane centre, said: “It’s going to be a very large system with impacts across all of Florida."

US President Joe Biden declared an emergency in Florida and deployed Federal Emergency Management Agency teams to Florida and Alabama to support local first responders. Federal authorities were positioning generators, food and water, along with search-and-rescue and power restoration teams, the White House said.

It comes as Mexico is still reeling from former Hurricane John battering its other coast. John hit the country’s southern Pacific coast late on Monday, killing two people, blowing tin roofs off houses, triggering mudslides and toppling scores of trees, officials said.

John grew into a Category 3 hurricane in a matter of hours on Monday and made landfall about 80 miles (128km) east of the resort of Acapulco, near the town of Punta Maldonado, with maximum sustained winds of 120mph (193kph) before weakening to a tropical storm after moving inland.

Helene is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began on June 1.