Strongest Storm of the Year Approaches Jamaica
BBC News
This video can not be played
The world's strongest storm of the year is closing in on Jamaica, with warnings of "catastrophic and life-threatening" conditions
Officials are giving an update – press watch live above to follow along
Many Jamaicans have been evacuated – but the slow speed of Melissa's approach has made for an anxiety-ridden few days, our reporter in Jamaica writes
Some forecasters say the storm could remain a category five when it reaches the island – we don't know exactly when it'll make landfall, but here's the storm's projected path
A British woman tells the BBC "there's this weird roar… like something's coming", while a Jamaican man says "the winds are so strong you would not be able to stand up"
Forecasters believe the storm could be the strongest hurricane ever to hit Jamaica, with winds of 175mph (282km/h)
Are you in Jamaica? Do you have family or friends there? Get in touch via email, external or WhatsApp +44 7756 165803, external
Edited by Sam Hancock and Johanna Chisholm, with reporting from Nick Davis in Jamaica and BBC Weather's Elizabeth Rizzini
Continuing to warn residents about the devastating potential impacts, Thompson says the worst is still to come.
"You might be saying that this system does not seem to be packing much of a punch," he says. "The truth is it is still some distance from the coast."
He says that as the storm moves closer, things will get "significantly worse" than what people are experiencing now.
Evan Thompson says Hurricane Melissa is likely to make landfall in Westmoreland or St Elizabeth, on the west coast of Jamaica.
"If you are under the impact of those category five hurricane-force winds, you will be having significant difficulty even with infrastructure," he says.
He tells citizens to expect heavy rainfall and strong winds across the island with most parts seeing at least 12-16 inches (300-400 mm) of rain.
While providing an update on Hurricane Melissa, Thompson – from the Meteorological Service of Jamaica – confirms that the centre of the storm is still some distance away.
But it is speeding up a little, Thompson notes, and it is now moving at around 11km/h (7mph).
It is expected to make its entry on the south-west coastline as a category five storm, before gradually weakening to category four as it crosses the island.
It could potentially weaken to category three as it leaves the island, he says.
We're now hearing from Evan Thompson, from the Meteorological Service of Jamaica, who says Hurricane Melissa is continuing to move towards the south-western coastline of the island.
He says the storm, a category five, continues to move slowly.
But, he adds, the effects are already being felt in the west and south of the country – with high winds and rain in both regions.
You can also follow this update by pressing watch live above.
We can now bring you the latest update from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), which reports that Hurricane Melissa is now about 45 miles (70km) away from Jamaica.
"This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation," the NHC says, as it cautions people on the island to "take cover now".
It warns that if people fail to "adequately shelter", this could result in serious injury or loss of life.
"To protect yourself from wind, the best thing you can do is put as many walls as possible between you and the outside," it says.
It adds that a room inside – ideally without windows and where you can avoid falling trees – is the safest place you can be while in a building.
It also suggests covering yourself with a mattress or wearing a helmet for added protection, if you have one.
Nick Davis
Reporting from Jamaica
Critical power infrastructure in Kingston is down, and all I can hear is the hum of generators.
We have the internet – but that's being powered by generators as well, so it's just a matter of time before they run out of juice.
We're waiting to hear when the storm will officially hit here in Kingston, but we won't be able to find out immediately because communications are failing.
People are using satellite phones to feed information to those dealing with the disaster – but there's great possibility this storm is going to be with us for a long time.
A live feed shows the winds picking up in Kingston, Jamaica
Sakshi Venkatraman
Live reporter
We're continuing to bring you live coverage of Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm of the year that's set to make landfall in Jamaica in the next few hours.
People living on the Caribbean island have told us how they're preparing to the best of their abilities, but warn they've never experienced a hurricane of this size before.
Here's everything you need to know to get up to speed:
Jamaica is bracing for the world's strongest storm this year, which is also predicted to be one of the most powerful on record to hit the island.
US meteorologists are warning of "catastrophic and life-threatening" conditions.
The hurricane is expected to make landfall in Kingston, the country's capital, in the next few hours.
A live camera from Reuters shows deserted streets in the downtown area of the Jamaican capital, as locals brace for the Category 5 storm
Satellite images from earlier show the hurricane approaching the Caribbean island
Strong winds and rainfall were also captured on camera
Jason Allen, a correspondent from CBS News, has been speaking to our colleagues on the BBC News Channel about the situation in Kingston, Jamaica's capital.
"We have only seen moderate flooding," he says. There’s been a break in the rain for now, but the worst of the weather is yet to come.
"You could still see much stronger winds, you could see trees come down, power lines come down, power go out," he says.
Allen says not many people have gone to shelters because they want to protect their belongings or think their homes will withstand the hurricane.
The Kingston area may miss out on stronger winds on the west of the island, but he reminds us that "nothing is built to withstand category five winds". Some forecasters have warned Hurricane Melissa could remain a category five – the highest on the scale – when it makes landfall.
CBS News is the BBC's US media partner.
Elizabeth Rizzini
Lead weather presenter
Hurricane Melissa had been moving at 2mph (3.2 km/h) – walking pace – but it has now picked up to near 7mph as it has turned more northerly to north-easterly, as we were expecting.
This slow speed is devastating – slow-moving storms are always worse because they last longer.
But the slow movement does not mean the winds are slower. Melissa is a category five storm and has maintained sustained wind speeds of over 157mph (currently 175mph) for longer than 24 hours now.
Of most concern is probably the amount of water involved. It will dump a lot of rainfall and there will be a lot of time for the storm surge to hit.
There are low lying areas in Jamaica and it is likely there will be flash flooding not just from falling rain, but also a possible 13ft (3.9m) storm surge towards the south coast and water run-off form the mountains to lower-lying areas.
Over the next few days, Jamaica could experience as much as 30in (76cm) of additional rain, and 25in could fall in Cuba with an 11ft storm surge.
Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter
I’ve spoken to Simon Johnson, a 33-year-old living in the Harbour View area of Kingston.
He lives around 200m from the harbour and says he is "feeling anxious".
“We have put plywood on the front of the house to protect against rain and wind," he says. "We have sandbags around the doors and we have tied down the shutters to protect the windows.”
Simon, who lives with his wife and two sisters, says they know what it’s like to live through a hurricane, “but not one of this size".
“We know it will reach us," he adds.
He says they have stockpiled a week’s worth of food. "A lot of the supermarkets are empty. I could not find any bread in our neighbourhood. But we have tinned stuff," he says.
Catastrophic hurricane-force winds are expected to reach Jamaica in the next few hours, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) says.
The island is already experiencing tropical storm conditions, the NHC says in its latest update, adding that based on the current forecast Melissa is expected to make landfall "during the next several hours".
It is still classifying Melissa as a category five hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 175 mph (280 km/h) – and "little change in strength is expected" before it makes landfall in Jamaica.
The hurricane is 55 miles (90 km) away from the island but hurricane-force winds will be felt up to 30 miles (45 km) from the centre, it says.
"Melissa is expected to reach Jamaica and southeastern Cuba as an extremely dangerous major hurricane," it says.
The Foreign Office has updated its travel advice for countries and territories across the region impacted by Hurricane Melissa.
Airports are currently closed, and holidaymakers and British nationals residing in Jamaica are advised to follow the advice of local authorities, "especially in the event of any evacuation orders", as well as tour operators.
The Foreign Office is also pointing people to where they can find a list of shelters on the island, external.
The department adds that it is closely monitoring the hurricane as it approaches Jamaica, and that it "stands ready" to support partners and British nationals.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper says her department will be providing 24-hour consular assistance, and says she has spoken to Jamaica's foreign minister to offer the UK's support and solidarity.
Around 1,000 people are in shelters in Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa approaches the island, a minister tells the BBC.
Abka Fitz-Henley, State Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, tells the BBC Newsday programme the government expects "significant infrastructure damage".
As we've been reporting, Jamaica's minister of health said yesterday that three people died in Jamaica while preparing for the approaching storm.
"Over the past few days, in preparation for the storm we have had three deaths – three deaths linked to cutting down of trees, and in one instance electrocution because of, or due to, the cutting down of a tree," Chris Tufton said.
In one case, a health worker was killed when a tree fell on him in St Elizabeth, according to local media. The man was airlifted to hospital but he succumbed to his injuries, the Jamaica Observer reported.
There have also been "nearly 15" injuries linked to preparations for the storm in Jamaica, Tufton said, adding they mostly involved people falling from rooftops and trees.
"We urge the public to exercise extreme caution: activities such as climbing roofs, securing sandbags, or cutting trees may seem manageable, but even minor mistakes during hurricane conditions can result in serious injury or death," Jamaica's Ministry of Health said.
The storm has also been blamed for the deaths of four people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Hurricane Melissa will be the "storm of the century" for Jamaica and is expected to cause a "catastrophic situation", an official from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says, according to Reuters.
"It’s a catastrophic situation expected in Jamaica," the WMO's tropical cyclone specialist Anne-Claire Fontan told reporters. "For Jamaica, it will be the storm of the century for sure."
We don't know exactly when Hurricane Melissa will make landfall – the term used for when the eye of the storm reaches the coast.
The hurricane is currently a category five storm and nearing Jamaica. The map above shows it is still forecast to be south of Jamaica at 07:00 local time (12:00 GMT).
It is then expected to move north-east towards Cuba by 19:00 this evening (00:00 GMT) as a category four storm, before continuing towards the Bahamas around 19:00 (00:00 GMT) on Wednesday as category two. Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter
I’ve spoken to Damion, a computer scientist living in a suburban area of Kingston.
“It was shocking to wake up to storm-force winds,” he says. “If you go outside my house right now, the winds are so strong you would not be able to stand up. It feels like hurricane-force winds coming from all directions.”
Damion has another home in Manchester Parish, about an hour’s drive away, where his mother lives.
“The winds have been so strong, part of the roof has lifted off,” he says.
“I tried to protect the house before the storm hit,” Damion says. It has a metal roof, which he says he tried to reinforce, but he says he could not cover the whole thing as the hardware shops had run out of materials.
While Damion is speaking to me, he says he can see a flash outside in the street – it is a blue light hitting an electricity wire. “It looks like an explosion of blue light,” he says. "The power just went off, but it came back on again." But he doesn't believe it was lightning.
Damion says he is "quite scared", and that he feels he may need to go out later as he doesn’t have enough food at home and needs to stock up. 
Sarah Keith-Lucas
Weather presenter
The link between human-induced climate change and hurricanes is complex.
Whilst climate change is not thought to increase the number of tropical storms or hurricanes, higher air and sea temperatures can make those that do form more intense, with stronger winds, heavier rainfall and a higher risk of coastal flooding.
The frequency of very intense hurricanes such as Melissa is increasing, and will continue to do so as our world warms.
In their latest assessment report, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that "the proportion of Category 4–5 Tropical Cyclones will very likely increase globally with warming".
A study from World Weather Attribution looking at hurricane Milton last year found that climate change made the winds 10% stronger and the rainfall around 20-30% more intense.
Therefore, whilst the direct link between Hurricane Melissa and a warmer environment may be studied after the event, it is likely that it has been made wetter and windier by human-induced climate change.
As we've been reporting, Hurricane Melissa is predicted to be one of the most powerful on record to hit Jamaica. It was upgraded to a category five hurricane – the maximum strength – early on Monday by the US-based National Hurricane Center.
This short video clip with satellite video footage shows the storm intensifying since Sunday as it built from a category three to a category five hurricane:
This video can not be played
Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.