Hurricane Michael in the Gulf of Mexico

Authorities have warned that Hurricane Michael is likely to become a “monstrous” major storm by Tuesday night before it smashes into Florida on Wednesday. Forecasters fear it will bring “life-threatening” storm surges and flash flooding – and potentially even tornadoes.

States of emergency have been declared for swathes of Florida and Alabama as the storm pounded the Gulf of Mexico and eastern Carribean with winds up to 90mph – which are expected to hit 111mph before Michael makes landfall in northern Florida.

The National Hurricane Centre warned of storms surges up to 12ft and issued a string of alerts for coastal sites. On the Panhandle, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan advised residents that “if you decide to stay in your home and a tree falls on your house or the storm surge catches you ... there’s no-one that can respond to help you”.

Governor Rick Scott called Michael a “monstrous hurricane” with a devastating potential from high winds, storm surge and heavy rains.

Mr Scott declared a state of emergency for 35 Florida counties from the Panhandle to Tampa Bay, activated hundreds of Florida National Guard members and waived tolls to encourage those near the coast to evacuate inland.

Kay Ivey, the governor of Alabama, put the entire state under an emergency declaration and said she feared widespread power outages and other problems from the storm.

Cuba is currently bracing for heavy rain and winds from Michael.

It comes just a few weeks after Hurricane Florence devastated parts of the Carolinas with a deluge of rain and massive storm surges.

We'll have live updates tomorrow as the weather event makes landfall.