'Life-threatening' warning issued by Foreign Office to UK tourists travelling to USA
The UK Foreign Office has issued an official warning to British tourists in the USA due to ''life threatening'' weather conditions as Hurricane Milton approaches Florida. The storm is expected to make landfall on the night of October 9 or tomorrow morning, October 10.
Hurricane Milton is set to wreak havoc across Florida, US. Forecasters are anticipating the track of the hurricane will sweep across the state late on Wednesday and cause disruption throughout Thursday. Evacuation orders have been issued across the Tampa Bay region as a result of the storm, which will be Florida's largest evacuation in seven years.
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The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) has said it “poses an extremely serious threat to Florida”. The storm is expected to hit the heavily populated Tampa Bay. The NHC said winds were reaching 155 miles per hour and that it was likely to make pass over Florida on Wednesday. There is potential for widespread flooding.
The storm has made its way across the Gulf of Mexico, and has been weakened from a Category 5 storm to a Category 4 hurricane, although the National Hurricane Center warned that it still posed an “extremely serious threat”.
The UK Foreign Office, Development and Commonwealth Office has warned British travellers in the region to closely monitor updates and follow any instructions, including evacuation orders. In an update on its travel page for the USA release on Tuesday morning, the FCO said: “Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall on the west coast of Florida on the night of 9 October or morning of 10 October with tropical force winds affecting the west coast from the morning of 9 October.
The statement continued: “There is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and high winds on the west coast and heavy rainfall and high winds are expected to impact large parts of Florida.”
The advice offered to British tourists includes monitoring approaching storms on the US National Hurricane Center website, following instructions from local authorities, including evacuation orders and visiting the Federal Emergency Management Agency website for information on how to prepare for extreme weather.
Melbourne Orlando International Airport has announced that it will close to commercial flights from Wednesday through to Friday morning. Airline Tui have cancelled flights from the UK to Florida in the coming days due to the storm.