Hurricane Willa to hit Pacific Coast soon

Mexico has issued an alert for parts of its Pacific seaboard as it prepares for the "life-threatening" Hurricane Willa.

Willa is expected to make landfall on Mexico's south-western coast on Tuesday and is "potentially catastrophic", the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned.

The category four out of five storm categories, it threatens to bring torrential rains and major flooding.

Willa is expected to deliver rainfall of up to 46cm (18in) along parts of south-west Mexico, the NHC said on Monday, as it reported that the storm was carrying winds of 250km/h (155mph).

The NHC said "an extremely dangerous storm surge" was also likely to affect coastal areas by Tuesday evening, adding that rain and strong winds would be accompanied by "large destructive waves".

San Blas, on the Pacific coast, and the beach resort of Mazatlan areas are in effective warning.

The warning means that the hurricane conditions are expected within the next 36 hours. Hurricane Michael, which made landfall on 10 October, was the most powerful ever to hit north-west Florida, also bringing winds of 250km/h.

The residents of mexico had described the aftermath of the hurricane as a "war-zone".