Hurricane Melissa as it happened: Jamaica prepares for category 5 storm to make landfall; ‘catastrophic and life-threatening winds’ forecast

• Hurricane Melissa, the most powerful storm of the year, is closing in on Jamaica from the Caribbean Sea and is expected to make landfall within hours. The storm is forecast to hit Jamaica overnight (AEDT) as a historic category 5 hurricane.
• Due to the storm’s unpredictable movement, the exact landfall time is uncertain, but hurricane conditions are likely to begin soon, with landfall in the early hours of Wednesday (AEDT).

• Melissa is currently the strongest storm on Earth in 2025, with sustained winds exceeding 280 km/h, ranking it among the top 20 strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded.
• The US National Hurricane Centre has warned of catastrophic, life-threatening conditions, driven by the storm’s slow movement, extreme winds, and intense rainfall and storm surge.
• Melissa has already been blamed for seven deaths in the Caribbean: three in Jamaica, three in Haiti, and one in the Dominican Republic, where another person is also missing.
• Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness has ordered mandatory evacuations for parts of southern Jamaica, including the historic town of Port Royal. Authorities are struggling to transport the 28,000 people under mandatory evacuation, as some residents are reluctant to leave their homes, citing fears of looting.

• Holness has appealed for international aid, warning that “no infrastructure in the region can withstand a category 5 hurricane.” Anticipating the damage to come, Holness said: “I have been on my knees in prayer.“
• After Jamaica, Melissa is expected to move toward Cuba, bringing severe weather to Haiti, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and other parts of the Caribbean.
• A life-threatening storm surge is predicted along Jamaica’s south coast, reaching 2.7–4 metres above ground level, accompanied by large, destructive waves.

That brings us to the end of our live coverage of Hurricane Melissa today.

Here’s a recap:

• Hurricane Melissa is on track to make a direct hit on Jamaica within hours - on Wednesday AEDT.
• Described by a meteorologist as ‘the storm of the century’, it is currently a category 5 hurricane.
• Authorities in Jamaica and Cuba have issued evacuation orders for tens of thousands of people, but many are refusing to leave.
• Melissa has already been blamed for seven deaths in the Caribbean: three in Jamaica, three in Haiti, and one in the Dominican Republic, where another person is also missing.
• The Jamaican government has appealed for international aid, warning that “no infrastructure in the region can withstand a category 5 hurricane.”
• After Jamaica, Melissa is expected to move toward Cuba, bringing severe weather to Haiti, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and other parts of the Caribbean.

Thank you for joining us. Follow our continuing live news coverage of Hurricane Melissa here.

This image captures just how massive Hurricane Melissa is compared with Jamaica - a stark and terrifying reminder of the scale of the storm bearing down on the island.

The striking image shows the enormous size of Hurricane Melissa as it dwarfs Jamaica on its approach.

Across Jamaica, schoolyards once filled with the sounds of morning lessons have become sanctuaries from Hurricane Melissa’s fury.

As the Category 5 storm bears down, hundreds of schools have been converted into emergency shelters, offering refuge to families fleeing coastal and low-lying communities.

In Kingston, Montego Bay, and St Elizabeth, classrooms now hum with the shuffle of mattresses and cooking pots.

The Ministry of Education confirmed that dozens of schools have been designated as official evacuation centres, coordinated through parish disaster committees.

Shelter managers say turnout has risen sharply since Monday night as winds strengthened and floodwaters crept inland.

• Hurricane Melissa, the most powerful storm of the year, is closing in on Jamaica from the Caribbean Sea and is expected to make landfall within hours. The storm is forecast to hit Jamaica overnight (AEDT) as a historic category 5 hurricane.
• Due to the storm’s unpredictable movement, the exact landfall time is uncertain, but hurricane conditions are likely to begin soon, with landfall in the early hours of Wednesday (AEDT).

• Melissa is currently the strongest storm on Earth in 2025, with sustained winds exceeding 280 km/h, ranking it among the top 20 strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded.
• The US National Hurricane Centre has warned of catastrophic, life-threatening conditions, driven by the storm’s slow movement, extreme winds, and intense rainfall and storm surge.
• Melissa has already been blamed for seven deaths in the Caribbean: three in Jamaica, three in Haiti, and one in the Dominican Republic, where another person is also missing.
• Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness has ordered mandatory evacuations for parts of southern Jamaica, including the historic town of Port Royal. Authorities are struggling to transport the 28,000 people under mandatory evacuation, as some residents are reluctant to leave their homes, citing fears of looting.

• Holness has appealed for international aid, warning that “no infrastructure in the region can withstand a category 5 hurricane.” Anticipating the damage to come, Holness said: “I have been on my knees in prayer.“
• After Jamaica, Melissa is expected to move toward Cuba, bringing severe weather to Haiti, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and other parts of the Caribbean.
• A life-threatening storm surge is predicted along Jamaica’s south coast, reaching 2.7–4 metres above ground level, accompanied by large, destructive waves.

Hurricane Melissa, the year’s strongest storm, is approaching Jamaica from the Caribbean Sea, and is expected to make landfall in the coming hours.

Melissa was upgraded to a category 5 hurricane, the maximum strength, by National Hurricane Centre (NHC) early on Monday. The NHC has confirmed that the hurricane’s core is expected to move over Jamaica on Tuesday morning, where the local time has just passed 5am.

Given the unpredictability of the hurricane, the exact time of landfall remains unclear. However, hurricane conditions are expected to arrive overnight AEDT, with landfall anticipated in the early hours of tomorrow AEDT.

Melissa is forecast to dump massive amounts of rain, up to 102 centimetres, across the northern Caribbean, with Jamaica’s eastern mountains facing the worst of it. This level of rainfall could lead to life-threatening flash floods and landslides.

The hurricane has been described as slow-moving and is currently located approximately 180km south-west of Kingston and 290km south-west of Guantanamo, Cuba.

A life-threatening storm surge is expected along Jamaica’s south coast tonight with peak heights potentially reaching 2.7-4 metres above ground level near and east of Melissa’s landfall. This surge will bring large and destructive waves, the National Hurricane Centre says.

A storm surge happens when a storm causes water to rise higher than normal tides. It’s measured by how much higher the water rises above what’s usually expected.

On the north-west coast, near Montego Bay, a storm surge of 1.2-1.8 metres above ground level is possible.

South-eastern Cuba could also experience a significant storm surge late tonight or Wednesday, with peak heights of 2.1-3.4 metres above normal tide levels, accompanied as well by large and destructive waves.

Additionally, a storm surge of 1.2-1.8 metres above normally dry ground is possible in the south-eastern Bahamas, and Turks and Caicos Islands on Wednesday.

Conditions in Jamaica are worsening as Hurricane Melissa slowly approaches, according to the National Hurricane Centre’s latest update. The hurricane’s core is expected to move over Jamaica today, then across south-eastern Cuba on Wednesday morning, and finally over the south-eastern or central Bahamas later on Wednesday.

While some fluctuations in intensity are possible before Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica later tonight, it is still expected to reach Jamaica and south-eastern Cuba as an extremely dangerous major hurricane. It will also maintain hurricane strength as it moves across the south-eastern Bahamas.

Melissa’s maximum sustained winds remain at 280km/h. The hurricane is currently located about 180km south-west of Kingston and 290km south-west of Guantanamo, Cuba. Just a few hours ago, at 5pm AEDT, it was situated about 215km south-west of Kingston and 500km south-west of Guantanamo, Cuba.

The next update from the National Hurricane Centre is scheduled for 2am AEDT.