BOBBY_M Artistic: IRMA LIVE: Hurricane hits Caribbean - buildings destroyed and streets flooded

All the latest updates as the category five storm roars across the Caribbean on a path towards Florida.

14:14, UK,Wednesday 06 September 2017

Key Points:

St Barts and St Martin hit by Category 5 storm with winds of 185mph
Eye of storm passes over Barbuda at 1:47am
Pope's plane reroutes to avoid the hurricane
Barbados evacuating six southern islands ahead of storm's arrival
Hurricane now heading towards Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands
Predicted to make landfall in Florida on Saturday

14:19

Minimal damage to Antigua:

The Antigua Met Service says Antigua suffered "minimal" damage.

But they say there has been no contact with the island of Barbuda since 12:30am (local time).

14:00

British Oversees Territories affected by the hurricane:

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office says the following four oversees territories are likely to be affected by Irma: Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Bermuda is not currently thought to be in the path of the storm.

The FCO is currently telling British nationals caught in the hurricane to follow the advice of the local authorities and any evacuation orders.

13:13

St Barts weather station destroyed by Irma:

The weather office on the island measured winds of 151mph (244kph) as the hurricane approached.

But the station said its monitoring equipment had now been destroyed by the storm.

13:11

Government buildings destroyed on St Martin:

French interior minister Gerard Collomb says the government's buildings on the islands - the most sturdy there - have been destroyed.

"We know that the four most solid buildings on the island have been destroyed which means that more rustic structures have probably been completely or partially destroyed," he told reporters.

13:07

St Martin is in the eye of Hurricane Irma:

The US National Hurricane Centre says the eye of the storm is passing over the Caribbean island of St Martin.

13:04

Fuel shortages in Florida as residents stock up:

Some gas stations in South Florida are running out of fuel ahead of the storm's arrival.

At one gas station in Cooper City the queue was already 50 cars deep by 5:30am.

12:42

Irma causes "major damage" says French minister:

French overseas territories minister Annick Girardin says Irma has caused "major damage" on several Caribbean islands.

The storm has already hit the islands of Barbuda, St Barts and St Martins.

"These islands are suffering major impacts," the French weather office said.

12:27

How big is Hurricane Irma?

This NASA GOES satellite image was taken on Tuesday evening and shows the size of the storm in the Atlantic as it approached the Caribbean.

12:21

Flight disruptions as Caribbean airports close:

British Airways say a flight to Antigua and St Kitts is cancelled today as authorities have told them the airports are closed.

"We have offered all customers due to travel to the Caribbean and Florida in the coming days a range of re-booking options and are keeping our flights to the entire region under review," BA said.

Virgin Atlantic say their flight to Antigua on Thursday is cancelled but all other flights are currently scheduled to operate as normal.

They recommend customers check the status of their flights herebefore travelling to the airport.

"Any customers booked to travel to, from or through Antigua, Havana and Miami between today and 11th September may rebook their flights to an alternative date or alternative destination travelling on or before 14th October (subject to availability), or receive a full refund," Virgin said.