Hurricane Erin has turned into a Category 5 storm, rapidly powering up over the course of 24 hours, the National Hurricane Center said.

While the compact hurricane’s centre was not expected to strike land, it threatened to dump flooding rains in the northeast Caribbean as it continued to grow larger.

The first Atlantic hurricane of 2025, Erin ramped up from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in a single day. By late Saturday morning, its maximum sustained winds had more than doubled to 160 mph (255 kph).

Mike Brennen, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said Erin grew into a “very powerful hurricane”, with its winds gaining 60mph (96kph) in about nine hours.

The storm was expected to double or even triple in size in the coming days.

Tropical storm watches were

See Full Page