Miami - Thousands of British holiday-makers were being evacuated from Cancun as Hurricane Mitch threatened to tear its way through the popular Mexican resort yesterday.
An estimated 2,000 British tourists were being offered the chance to leave the coastal city before the hurricane, the strongest in the Caribbean for 10 years, struck. The Federation of Tour Operators, which represents companies selling 90 per cent of tour packages in the UK, said it was helping to co-ordinate flights for 2,000 holiday-makers away from Cancun.
With winds of 180 m.p.h. and some gusts of 215 m.p.h., Mitch is ranked as a Category Five storm, the highest rating possible. Believed to be the strongest hurricane to hit the Caribbean since Gilbert in 1988, it is expected to reach Cancun at about 4 a.m. local time or 10 a.m. UK time.
The 350-mile wide storm had been heading for mainland Honduras, before turning away at the last minute. That sudden change of path towards Belize and the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico meant that only the northern coast of Honduras and a few of the country's Caribbean islands had been affected, principally by flooding.