Category 5 Hurricane Irma threatening to land in Caribbean

The National Hurricane Centre has elevated Hurricane Irma to a Category 5 storm.

Winds from the aggressive weather phenomenon are set to reach 175kmph. 

'Irma is expected to affect the northeastern Leeward Islands as a dangerous major hurricane, accompanied by life-threatening wind, storm surge, and rainfall impacts,' according to the NOAA’s National Hurricane Centre. 

Irma is expected to make landfall on the Leeward Island tonight.

'Irma is expected to bring deteriorating and perhaps devastating conditions across the Leeward Islands into Wednesday,' AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said.

A number of populated Caribbean islands are in the current path of the storm. 

These include Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. 

'We are expecting very rough and dangerous surf along with damaging tropical-storm-force and hurricane-force winds over the northern Leeward Islands, and tropical-storm-force winds over the southern Leewards to perhaps the northern Windward Islands, mostly in gusts,' Kottlowski told AccuWeather.

A number of flights to and from the Caribbean have been cancelled.