Hurricane Ian: Dangerous threat to Florida

Ian rapidly intensified into a major Category 3 hurricane prior to making landfall in Cuba, but now has its sights set on Florida.

Severe flooding from storm surges and heavy rain, accompanied by damaging winds lashed Cuba late Monday night, in what was far western Cuba's first Category 3 landfall in 14 years.

Hurricane conditions are still ongoing here, though Ian is now barrelling towards the Florida Peninsula.

Ian's outer bands of rain and gusty winds are already affecting South Florida and the Florida Keys, as below, with a tornado watch in place across southern Florida.

Thunderstorms are commonly embedded within a tropical system's outer bands, which are capable of producing tornadoes.

W​here exact landfall occurs on Wednesday night will determine which area is greatest at risk of life-threatening storm surge, with Tampa down to Fort Myers sat in a high risk zone where nearly 4m-high waves are possible.

Hurricane force winds of around 125mph are also expected along the south-west coast. Check the latest on our WindRadar.

With the system currently moving at a speed of 10mph, Ian is forecast to slow and could become stationary by meteorological definition, which is a speed of less than 5mph.

The amount of rainfall coming out of such a slow-moving or stationary system could be catastrophic, with 200-500mm of rain possible for inland areas.

Check out this Facebook Live for the latest detail on Hurricane Ian.