Heavy rain and 185 mph winds lashed the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico's north-east coast on Wednesday as Hurricane Irma roared through Caribbean islands on its way to a possible hit on South Florida.

Shoppers raided grocery and hardware shops, bishops excused Catholics from Mass, and the capital shut down ahead of a snow storm that will blanket much of the Eastern US this weekend.

Hurricane Sandy is threatening 50 million people on America's heavily-populated east coast today and forecasters warned that New York could bear the brunt of the one-of-a-kind superstorm.