<p>The National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said the hurricane is bringing &#8220;devastating&#8221; storm surge, extreme winds and heavy rains&#8221; to extensive parts of Florida.</p> 
<p>&#8220;Extremely dangerous hurricane Matthew heading for Florida,&#8221; the NHC warned last night.</p> 
<p>&#8220;If you are one of ~1.5 million people in Florida under evacuation instructions, leave those storm surge areas and mobile homes now!&#8221;</p> 
<p>The latest map, from the NHC, shows that the eye of the hurricane is travelling along the coast of Florida towards Georgia and the Carolinas.</p> 
<p>It is not yet known if the hurricane will go back out to sea after passing Florida but before reaching the other states further north.</p> 
<p>The governors of Florida, Goergia the Carolinas have declared a state of emergency amid fears that the storm could wreak havoc on today.</p> The NHC said that the hurricane is due to track run parallel along the coast of Florida and Georgia all the way to South Carolina. 
<p>It added that just a &#8220;small deviation&#8221; off track could bring the major onshore with terrible consequences.</p> 
<p>A Hurricane Warning is in effect along the East Coast from Florida to South Carolina. A Hurricane Watch alert is also affecting parts of North Carolina.</p> 
<p>It added: &#8220;Although strong winds and heavy rain are being experienced, the eye and thus the strongest winds are currently remaining just offshore.</p> 
<p>&#8220;Hurricane force winds are very close to the coast of Florida and the outer eyewall of Matthew is touching Cape Canaveral. A wind gust of 107 mph was recently recorded.&#8221;</p> 
<p>&#8220;When a hurricane is forecast to track roughly parallel to a coastline - as Matthew is forecast to go from Florida through South Carolina - it becomes very difficult to estimate the impacts this far in advance,&#8221; the NHC added.</p> This map shows the possible path of the hurricane 
<p>The Met Office said: "It is likely the eye of Hurricane Matthew will pass very close to the entire eastern coastline of the US state on Friday.</p> 
<p>"Over the weekend it is expected that Matthew will weaken and turn north and northeast and affect the coastal areas of Georgia and the Carolinas.</p> 
<p>"However, this is the point at which uncertainty grows in forecasts.</p> 
<p>"It is looking increasingly likely that later in the weekend Matthew will turn out to sea, but the timing of this cannot be stated with certainty.</p> 
<p>"Thus it is unclear how far north along the US coast will see impacts from Matthew."</p> 
<p>Met Office tropical prediction scientist Julian Heming explained that there are differences between the models that track the &#8220;very oblique&#8221; path of the hurricane towards the US.</p> Will Hurricane Matthew hit the Carolinas? 
<p>A full evacuation has been announced in South Carolina after Hurricane Matthew tore its way through the Caribbean.</p> 
<p>A state of emergency has been declared across the whole state of South Carolina and 1.1million people are set to be evacuated across the state.</p> 
<p>South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley urged communities along to coast to evacuate at least 100 miles away and fill their cars full of gas before they set off on their journeys.</p> 
<p>A NHC spokesman said the eye of the hurricane looks "like it's going to impact the Carolinas" at the end of the week or over the weekend.</p> 
<p>North Carolina&#8217;s Governor Pat McCrory has declared a state of emergency in 66 counties in central and eastern North Carolina. Parts of North Carolina have been evacuated.</p> 
<p>Mr McCrory also called on farmers to harvest their crops as soon as possible to prevent devastating flood damage if the hurricane hits.</p> 
<p>&#8220;We want to have everything in place early prior to the potential of an earthquake hitting North Carolina,&#8221; he said.</p> 
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m hoping this is a false alarm but we can&#8217;t gamble - we won&#8217;t gamble - with people&#8217;s lives.&#8221;</p> Met Office Will Hurricane Matthew hit Georgia? 
<p>Large swathes of Georgia have been evacuated and there is a state of emergency in place.</p> 
<p>But Georgia might be spared if the eye of the hurricane goes back out to sea before reaching the state.</p> 
<p>Mr Heming warned that the hurricane was approaching the US at an oblique angle which means that "small shifts can make a big difference".</p> 
<p>Even if the eye of the hurricane does not hit Georgia, there will be strong winds, rain, rip currents and dangerous conditions at sea.</p> 
<p>Matthew has been downgraded from category four to category three but it remains extremely powerful.</p> 
<p>Tue, October 4, 2016</p> At least 108 people have been killed by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti and the Dominican Republic as the United States braces itself for the worst storm in a decade. Tropical Storm Matthew, which has since gained hurricane strength, is seen in an image captured by NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite.
Will Hurricane Matthew hit the US? Latest forecast for Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia, more