Hurricane Irma is lashing Cuba with strong winds and heavy rain after devastating several Caribbean islands.
The category five storm made landfall on the Camaguey Archipelago, off the north-eastern coast.
But the Bahamas have largely been spared after Irma changed track.
In Florida, 5.6 million people, or 25 per cent of the US state’s population, have been told to leave as the storm approaches. At least 20 people are known to have died so far across the Caribbean.
Irma, which strengthened in the last few hours, hit the Camaguey Archipelago late on Friday, threatening nearby coastal towns and villages.
This is the first time a category five hurricane has hit Cuba in decades.
At 03:00 GMT on Saturday, Irma had maximum sustained winds of 257km/h (160mph), the National Hurricane Center in the US said.
The eye of the storm was about 190km (120 miles) east-southeast of the Cuban fishing town of Caibarien.
A hurricane warning is currently in effect in the provinces of Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus, Villa Clara and Matanzas. -BBC
