Hurricane Melissa has made landfall in Jamaica, bringing winds of up to 185mph - making it officially the strongest storm on record to hit the Caribbean island

Heavy rains are forecast to fall further north along the U.S. East Coast later in the week, with a "marginal" risk of excessive rainfall, enough to cause isolated flash flooding, over the Appalachians and portions of the Ohio and Tennessee valleys on the evening of Oct. 29 and morning of Oct. 30.

Hurricane Melissa is barrelling towards Cuba after leaving a trail of destruction in Jamaica, though the full extent of its impact remains unclear. Watch and follow live below.

Tuesday, 4 p.m. Melissa was downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane , the National Hurricane Center said, with maximum wind speeds of 150 mph. The center of the storm was reported as just 10 miles south of Montego Bay, one of Jamaica’s largest cities.

With sustained winds of 175 mph, Melissa is now one of the strongest hurricanes, based on top wind speeds, on record in the Atlantic basin.