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We are pausing our live coverage of Hurricane Maria. Here's what you need to know:

• The "potentially catastrophic" hurricane remains at category five with winds of up to 260km/h (160mph), the US National Hurricane Center says.
• It has pounded the island of Dominica, and the Prime Minister of the former British colony says he is dreading news of serious physical injuries and possible deaths.
• One death has been confirmed and two people are reported missing in Guadeloupe, officials say.
• The French territory of Martinique has been hit by power cuts but is thought to have escaped serious damage.
• It is moving towards Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands where the eye of the storm is expected to pass on Wednesday (local time).
• The governor of Puerto Rico, a US territory, has told the island's 3.5 million people to seek shelter.
• The storm is moving roughly along the same track as Irma, this season's other category five hurricane.
• with the latest developments here

The �鶹Լ��'s David Shukman explains why there has been a recent flurry of hurricanes forming in the Atlantic.

Harvey, Irma, Maria. The intensity of this hurricane season means fast and strong storms have been bearing down one after another.

So, how should people prepare?

For expert advice, detailing what to do before, during and after a hurricane.

Lena Samuels, an aide to the prime minister of St Kitts and Nevis, gives an update from the islands as Hurricane Maria approaches.

She told the �鶹Լ�� that the "wind and the rain hadn't let up" and the island country is "battening down the hatches".

The French Interior Minister, Gérard Collomb‏, 80,000 homes are without electricity in Guadeloupe. He adds that the extent of the damage on the island is "uncertain".

One death has been confirmed in the French overseas territory, which has a population of 465,000.

Image source, AFP

Will Grant
�鶹Լ�� News, San Juan, Puerto Rico

There’s an uneasy combination of expectation and nervousness in San Juan as residents wait for the arrival of a second huge hurricane in as many weeks.

Irma didn’t cause significant damage in Puerto Rico, yet thousands are still without power and conditions for those in poorer, less stable housing remain difficult. Hurricane Maria, however, is likely to make a far more direct hit on the island and could be the most powerful storm to make landfall on the territory in 85 years.

In advance of the high winds and rain, people are boarding up their homes, many businesses have already closed and it appears most families are simply not venturing out except to find the most necessary items.

Bottled water is beginning to sell out in stores and people are tracking the path of the storm carefully. Tension has risen a little further since people heard of the damage that Hurricane Maria caused on the tiny island of Dominica.

With Puerto Rico in the middle of a deep economic crisis and some communities still recovering from the last event, this is a bad time for the island to be experiencing another giant storm.

For now, however, Governor Ricardo Rossello has simply urged people not to risk their lives and for those in wooden or poorly constructed housing to seek refuge with family or friends.

Image source, AFP

Radar imagery from the UK's national weather service shows the outer rain bands of Hurricane Maria beginning to cross the US and British Virgin Islands.

A curfew was imposed in the British Virgin Islands on Monday night, and residents have been asked to stay indoors until the storm has passed.

US forecasters say a storm surge - rising seawater coming in from the coast - is also expected to bring "life-threatening" swells of up to 9ft (2.7m) above ground in the Virgin Islands as well as Puerto Rico.

The World at One
�鶹Լ�� Radio 4

Chris Austin, the head of the UK Taskforce for Maria, has said the UK is sending "another 60 tonnes of relief" to its overseas territories in the Caribbean.

Mr Austin told the World at One it is an "inspiration that the local population are knuckling down" despite the recent devastation caused by Hurricane Irma.

He said: "We owe it to them to have the same kind of resilience and stamina."

• One person has been killed and two others are missing in the French territory of Guadeloupe, officials say.
• Dominica's prime minister, who was rescued when the roof of his own home was blown off, says he is dreading waking up to news of serious physical injury and possible deaths from likely landslides on the former British colony.
• The French territory of Martinique has been hit by power cuts but is thought to have escaped serious damage.
• There are reports of flooding, mudslides and power outages in parts of St Lucia.

• Maria still is a "potentially catastrophic" category five hurricane, with winds of up to 260km/h (160mph), the US National Hurricane Center says.
• The eye of the storm is expected to pass near or over the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Wednesday (local time).
• The governor of Puerto Rico, a US territory, has told the island's 3.5 million people to seek shelter.
• Check our report with the
• from the prime minister of Dominica

The hurricane has also left two missing on the French territory, according to authorities.

The French Interior Ministry tweets that new "reinforcements" are leaving Paris and will arrive in the Antilles in the next few hours.

Numerous French overseas territories in the Caribbean, including Guadeloupe and Martinique, have been affected by Maria.

The Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Timothy Harris, has advised residents to stay indoors.

The leader of the former British colony also extended his prayers to the island of Dominica, where he said Maria "did much damage".

Our correspondent Will Grant tweets...

Hurricane Maria is now about 115 miles (180km) west of the French island of Guadeloupe, the US National Hurricane Center says in

The storm has winds of up to 260km/h (160mph), it adds, and remains a "potentially catastrophic" category five hurricane.

The UK Foreign Office has sent its latest travel advice for the Caribbean islands expected to be on Hurricane Maria's path.

Martinique, a French island south of Dominica, has avoided major damage and its Aimé Césaire Airport is to reopen for flights, .

Image source, AFP

Chris Austin, the head of the UK Taskforce on Hurricanes Irma and Maria, says the UK is sending 60 tonnes of relief on board HMS Ocean to its overseas territories in the Caribbean. That will add to the 75 tonnes provided to the region in the past week, he says.

"There's a lot to do, and people affected by this will have spent an awful lot of effort trying to patch up their homes", he added.

In the French territory of Martinique, local media have shared videos of flooding and high winds caused by Maria.

Martinique, which is south of Dominica, is suffering power cuts but has avoided major damage.