Elsa strengthens into a hurricane as it heads to Gulf Coast

Winds move the grass and palm trees with the sky full of clouds after the passage of Tropical Storm Elsa, in Havana, Cuba (Ramon Espinosa/AP)

A storm that has lashed the Caribbean and the Florida Keys with pounding rain and gusty winds has strengthened into a hurricane.

The National Weather Service said Hurricane Elsa was carrying winds as high as 75mph as it hurtled toward Florida’s northern Gulf Coast.