The US National Hurricane Centre says Hurricane Dean had weakened to a Category 3 storm with top sustained winds of 125 mph.

Hurricane Dean ploughed into the Caribbean coast of Mexico today as a roaring Category 5 hurricane, lashing ancient Mayan ruins and heading for modern oil installations.

Hurricane-force winds whipped the Caribbean coast of Mexico on today as a roaring Category 5 Hurricane Dean sped toward the ancient ruins and modern oil installations of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Hurricane Dean strengthened into a 160mph Category 5 storm capable of catastrophic damage today, as its first rain and winds began hitting the coasts of Mexico and Belize.

Travelers by the thousands flew out of the Mexican resort Cancun ahead of menacing Hurricane Dean today.

Jamaicans headed inland and tourists fled the country as the powerful Hurricane Dean appeared poised to make a direct hit on the island after a deadly and destructive march across the eastern Caribbean.

Alarmed tourists jammed Caribbean airports for flights out of Hurricane Dean’s path as the storm threatened to engulf Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

Astronauts aboard the shuttle Endeavour and the international space station today prepared for the last spacewalk of their joint mission, an outing that was scaled back because of Hurricane Dean.

Hurricane Dean barrelled across the eastern Caribbean today and took aim at Hispaniola, Jamaica and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, with forecasters saying it could turn into a monster Category 5 storm within 72 hours.