Hurricane Irma batters Caribbean

Hurricane Irma, with winds of 185mph, has slammed through the Caribbean with record ferocity, causing huge swathes of damage to the islands in its path. Rooftops and trees in Saint Martin and Saint Barts were brought down, with electricity supplies cut off, plunging the islands into blackout. The US National Hurricane Centre has called the category five hurricane “potentially catastrophic”, with emergency evacuations now in place from the Bahamas to Florida.