Hurricane Ernesto has come ashore on Mexico’s Caribbean coast near the border with Belize, after hundreds of tourists left beach resorts and fishermen abandoned low-lying villages to avoid the threat.

Forecasters say Ernesto has become a hurricane off the coast of Honduras and is heading toward the Yucatan Peninsula.

Tourists fleeing Hurricane Rina crowded Cancun’s airport even as the cyclone lost some of its punch on a course for Mexico’s resort-studded Caribbean coast.

A weakening Tropical Storm Paula dumped heavy rain on Cuba’s capital, Havana, turning some of the streets into shallow rivers and knocking out power before sliding along the island’s northern coast.

Tropical Storm Karl dumped heavy rains on the Yucatan Peninsula today as it moved toward the Gulf of Mexico, where it is expected to pick up steam and become a hurricane threatening Mexico’s central coast by the weekend.

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.

Tropical Storm Alex is gaining strength as it swirls across the Gulf of Mexico today on a path towards Mexico’s north-eastern coast.

The first tropical storm of the Atlantic 2010 hurricane season has formed in the western Caribbean, but it’s not on track to pass over the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

TROPICAL storm Gustav surged toward hurricane force last night as it drove toward Jamaica and aimed for the Cayman islands, prompting evacuations of tourists and offshore oil workers.

Hurricane Dean limped across Mexico today as a weakened tropical depression, but still dumped torrential rains that flooded rivers and drenched mudslide-prone mountains.

Hurricane Dean raked the Mexican mainland Wednesday and battered evacuated oil platforms, forcing thousands to flee as it regained some of the force it unleashed on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Hurricane Dean swept across the Yucatan peninsula, toppling trees, power lines and houses as it bore down on the heart of Mexico’s oil industry.

Thousands of tourists were confined to their hotel rooms today, sheltering from high winds and driving rain as Hurricane Dean tore into Mexico.

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.

Cayman Islands imposed a curfew and evacuated tourists as the British territory today faced Hurricane Dean, a powerful storm leaving a trail of destruction across the Caribbean.

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.

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.

Hurricane Dean roared through small Caribbean islands today, tearing away roofs, flooding streets and killing three people.

Hurricane Dean is heading towards Caribbean islands today with 100mph winds.

US President George Bush sent a long-distance message to Congress from the south-east tip of Mexico: The future of US relations south of the border hinges on immigration reform.

Space shuttle Discovery and its crew of six returned to Earth through overcast skies today, ending a successful US mission that put Nasa back in the space station construction business.

US CRUDE oil futures ended more than a dollar higher yesterday as analysts warned the death of Iraq’s al-Qaida leader Musab al-Zarqawi on Thursday would not end threats to Iraq’s battered oil industry.

Hope is fading for a Dublin teenager missing off the coast of Mexico.

HOPES for an Irish teenager who fell overboard a luxury cruise liner in the Caribbean are fading as an ongoing rescue operation yesterday failed to discover any trace of the missing student.

Newly formed Tropical Storm Gamma threatened the coasts of Belize and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula today after its rains killed two people and forced evacuations across much of Central America.

The once-huge throngs of tourists desperate to leave Mexico’s Caribbean coast have diminished in the wake of what Mexican insurance companies described as probably the country’s most costly disaster ever.

RESCUERS in inflatable rafts and amphibious vehicles pulled nearly 250 people from flooded homes yesterday after huge waves churned by Hurricane Wilma flooded the capital’s coastal highway and adjacent neighbourhoods of old, crumbling buildings.

Hurricane Wilma inched toward Florida today as winds and rain continued to whip Mexico's devastated Caribbean coast.

Mexico’s popular Cancun resort area has taken a battering from Hurricane Wilma as tourists huddled in hotels and shelters amid howling winds and shattering glass.

HURRICANE Wilma tore into the heart of Mexico’s Caribbean resort strip last night, trapping thousands of frightened tourists in darkened shelters pounded by torrential rains and shrieking winds.

Hurricane Wilma pounded the Mexico coast today as terrified tourists sought shelter from its furious winds and rain.

Punishing winds and rain pummelled the Mexican island of Cozumel early today and Cancun braced for the brunt of Wilma’s wrath as the massive hurricane inched toward Mexico’s resort-studded coastline, where thousands of stranded tourists took refuge in shelters and hotel ballrooms.

The governor of Florida today declared a state of emergency ahead of approaching Hurricane Wilma, but the state got a little breathing room when the storm’s slower pace postponed its likely landfall.

Hurricane Wilma weakened slightly as it roared toward Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula and southern Florida today, leaving at least 12 people dead in its wake and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands in coastal areas from Honduras to the Florida Keys.

HURRICANE Wilma turned into the most intense Atlantic storm ever recorded yesterday, a Category 5 monster packing 175mph wind that forecasters warned was “extremely dangerous”.

Hurricane Wilma, the most intense storm to form in the Americas, lashed the coasts of Central America and Caribbean islands today as it lumbered toward Mexico’s Cancun resort and Florida.

Monroe County officials have ordered visitors out of Florida Keys ahead of Hurricane Wilma, the first US evacuations caused by the Category 5 storm.

Hurricane Wilma has rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 storm, posing a significant threat to the Caribbean and Florida coastline.

Tropical Storm Wilma strengthened into a hurricane today on a path that could threaten Florida by the weekend, tying the record for the most hurricanes to form in an Atlantic season.

TROPICAL Storm Wilma strengthened yesterday after forming in the northwestern Caribbean, tying the record for the most named storms in an Atlantic season and following a path that some forecasters believe could menace the Gulf Coast next week as a hurricane.