Hurricane Milton is bringing “devastating rains and damaging winds” over parts of central Florida as it roared inland overnight causing hundreds of flights to be grounded.
The US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) warned that storm surges represented a “life-threatening situation” as people were urged to take “all necessary actions to protect life and property” from rising water and the potential for other dangerous conditions.
The hurricane, causing power blackouts to more than two million buildings, was packing winds of close to 105 mph with higher gusts as it crossed the state south of Orlando.
“Milton is forecast to maintain hurricane intensity while crossing Florida overnight,” the NHC said. “After moving into the Atlantic, Milton is expected to gradually lose tropical characteristics and slowly weaken.
The Foreign Office warned of an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and high winds on the west coast and heavy rainfall and high winds impacting large parts of Florida in an updated travel advisory.
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled as airports in the path of the hurricane closed and cruise lines altered or stopped sailings.
More than 850 flights departing from Florida airports and 887 arrivals were cancelled yesterday (Thursday) with more than a dozen scheduled between the UK and the state affected, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Disruption covered services to Orlando International, Tampa, Southwest Florida International in Fort Myers and Miami.
Orlando International airport will reopen “as soon as possible based on damage assessment” – likely to be 6pm local time today (Thursday).
Orlando’s Melbourne airport, used by Tui flights, plans to resume operations at 9am local time on Friday “pending safe conditions”.
Tampa airport “anticipates reopening after a damage assessment that will begin as soon as it is safe to do so”. This is expected to be 8am local time on Friday.
A spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic, which has cancelled multiple flights to and from Florida since Tuesday, said: “Due to severe weather conditions expected to be caused by Hurricane Milton, a state of emergency has been declared in Florida, and Tampa and Orlando airports are closing.
“Unfortunately this has impacted our flying schedule, and services to and from Orlando and Tampa are subject to cancellations and delays.
“The safety and welfare of our customers and crew is our top priority and we are contacting any Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Atlantic Holidays customers who may be impacted by the hurricane to discuss their options and we ask that anyone travelling checks the status of their flights on virginatlantic.com for the latest information.
The airline is continuing to track and monitor the hurricane “to understand any potential impact on our operation over the coming days” but holidays booked to the Gulf Coast areas of Tampa, Clearwater and St Pete’s for departures up until and including October 18 have been cancelled.
Two Tui flights to Orlando Melbourne from Birmingham and Glasgow scheduled for today have been delayed for a minimum of 24 hours following the cancellation of a service from Gatwick on Wednesday.
British Airways cancelled six flights connecting Gatwick with Orlando and Tampa on Wednesday.
The airline said: “Safety is always our highest priority and we continue to monitor the situation closely.
“As with other airlines, we are adjusting our flight schedules where airport closures occur and providing any affected customers with alternatives, including flight rebooking options or full refunds.”