Irma is now one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic

Irma is now an “extremely dangerous” Category 5 hurricane with wind speeds up to 175 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. That makes it the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean outside of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

It’s still unclear where exactly the hurricane will make landfall in the US and which parts of the East Coast it will affect, but there’s an “increasing chance” that Florida will be impacted later this week and in the weekend, the National Hurricane Center said. The hurricane is expected to affect the Leeward Islands later today and the British and US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico tomorrow.

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