A London man on a trip to the beautiful Caribbean island of St Maarten has tweeted of the “apocalyptic” scene as the winds batter buildings and have forced him to take shelter in a concrete stairwell.

In the early hours of the morning, at 4.30am local time, Alex Woolfall tweeted that he was scared as the building shook.

As the storm escalated the building lost power and he was forced to take cover.

He described hearing battering and sonic boom-type noises as the winds lashed structures on the island.