Mexican authorities set up emergency shelters and cruise ships shifted course as Hurricane Rina strengthened off the Caribbean coast today, following a projected track through Cancun and the resort-filled Mayan Riviera, Mexico’s most popular tourist destination.

A strong Tropical Storm Karl made landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula today, hitting a sparsely populated stretch of Caribbean coast, while two Category 4 hurricanes roared further out in the Atlantic.

A strengthening Tropical Storm Karl is nearing Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula today, bearing down on the resort beaches of the Mayan Riviera.

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.

Hurricane Emily stranded thousands of tourists along Mexico’s luxurious Mayan Riviera and left hundreds of local residents homeless yesterday, forcing many to remain in crowded, leaky shelters.

Howling wind and rain from Hurricane Emily lashed beaches in the Mexican resort of Cancun today, after thousands of tourists, many of them Britons, were evacuated from their hotels to improvised shelters at schools and gymnasiums.

A massive evacuation of tourists in one of the world’s biggest resorts was set to begin today, as hundreds of buses were dispatched to move tens of thousands out of the path of Hurricane Emily.

Hurricane Emily regained dangerous Category 4 strength today, frightening storm-weary islanders in Jamaica and Cayman Islands after ravaging Grenada.