An abnormally warm Gulf allowed Helene to quickly intensify to a Cat 4. Similarly, Milton’s strength swelled from Cat 1 to Cat 5 in just over 24 hours, with the National Hurricane Center calling its intensification “explosive”. Seasoned hurricane expert John Morales started to cry as he described the “horrific” storm on TV.

Hurricane Milton is likely to bring another huge storm surge to coastal areas of Florida that are still recovering from the 15ft (4.6m) wall of water piled up by Hurricane Helene at the end of September.