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.

Police in Central America have revealed their switchboards were jammed by callers reporting UFO sightings and air crashes the night the space shuttle Atlantis landed.