Hurricane warning for Louisiana as powerful storm swirls over Mexico

Beach hotel workers store chairs inside (AP)

The US state of Louisiana is once again under a hurricane warning as a powerful storm swirled across Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on a path that could take it to New Orleans on Wednesday night.

Zeta, the 27th named storm in a very busy Atlantic season, made landfall just north of the ancient Mayan city of Tulum with maximum sustained winds of 80mph. It weakened to a tropical storm over land, but is expected to regain its strength over the Gulf of Mexico.