Parts of Central America are braced for possible flooding and landslides as Tropical Storm Matthew sweeps in from the Caribbean Sea.
Matthew is expected to bring up to 10in (25cm) of rain when it hits land near the border of Nicaragua and Honduras.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has ordered the evacuation of hundreds of people living in the storm’s path.
Central America has been battered by months of heavy rain, which began in May with Tropical Storm Agatha.
Forecasters say Matthew will make landfall on Friday and travel north-west, striking southern Belize by Saturday evening, before crossing into Guatemala by Sunday.
Its predicted path then heads north into Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula.
The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said on Friday that Matthew had sustained winds of 50mph (85km/h).
“Matthew is heading toward Central America in a hurry,” the centre said in a bulletin.
It warned that the storm system could bring “life-threatening flash floods and mudslides”.
In Nicaragua, military spokesman Lt Col Freddy Herrera said people had been evacuated from from the region of Cabo Gracias a Dios and the Miskito Cays.
Honduras has declared a state of preventive alert throughout the country.
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