Heavy rains lashed the Cayman Islands on Tuesday as forecasters warned that a nearby cluster of thunderstorms could soon become a major hurricane en route to the south-east US, writes The Guardian.

Hurricane watches were in effect for Florida’s Tampa Bay and from Englewood to Indian Pass, as well as for eastern Mexico from Cabo Catoche to Tulum – and for Cuba’s Pinar del Río province. Hurricane conditions could be possible in parts of Cuba and Mexico early on Wednesday and in parts of Florida late on Wednesday and early on Thursday, according to the US’s National Hurricane Center (NHC).

The disturbance would then move “over extremely deep and warm waters” that would fuel its intensification.

“Conditions look quite favorable for strengthening over the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday and Thursday,” the center said. “This system will become quite large and powerful before landfall”.

The disturbance is expected to become a category 3 before approaching the north-east Gulf coast. Since 2000, eight major hurricanes have made landfall in Florida, according to Philip Klotzbach, a Colorado State University hurricane researcher.