British tourists flown home as hurricane tears towards islands

BRITISH tourists were yesterday being flown home as Hurricane Irma threatened Caribbean islands and Florida.

Irma has become the strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded outside of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, with sustained winds of 175mph and gusts up to 215mph. Its projected path was toward islands in the northeast Caribbean and it could eventually hit Florida. Rick Scott, the state’s governor, has declared a state of emergency.

British Airways flew an empty plane from London to Antigua to bring back tourists and cancelled two flights. More than 100 Virgin Atlantic passengers left from Antigua and made a unplanned stop in St Lucia to join an earlier service to Gatwick. Thomas Cook said it was monitoring the storm closely.

Hurricane warnings were issued for popular tourist destinations including the British Virgin Islands and US Virgin Islands. An Association of British Tour Operators spokesman said: “People who are on a package holiday in the region should keep in close contact with their travel provider, monitor news reports and follow the advice from local authorities.”

The US National Hurricane Centre called the hurricane “potentially catastrophic”. Carlos Anselmi, a meteorologist in Puerto Rico, said: “Puerto Rico has not seen a hurricane of this magnitude in almost 100 years.”

Experts warned it could drop 12 inches of rain, cause landslides, flash floods and generate waves of up to 23ft.

Sir Richard Branson will stay on his private Caribbean island, Necker, for the potentially devastating arrival of the hurricane. The British billionaire and adventurer said Necker boasts “really strong” buildings with hurricane blinds “that should be able to handle extreme weather pretty well”.