Hurricane Beryl devastates Caribbean islands

Getty Images Damaged boats in Bridgetown Fish Market, Barbados

Hurricane Beryl has ripped across the Caribbean with winds of 240km/h (150mph) tearing roofs from buildings, uprooting trees and devastating the islands in its path.

At least six people are known to have been killed across Grenada and St Vincent, and thousands left homeless after the category five storm made landfall on Tuesday.

It has since been downgraded to category four, but the US National Hurricane Center is warning of “life-threatening winds and storm surge” for Jamaica later on Wednesday and the Cayman Islands into Thursday.

Reuters A man walks along a debris-filled street

The storm wrecked homes and businesses in the Hastings neighbourhood of Bridgetown, Barbados, on Monday.

BARBADOS GOVERNMENT HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock Men pull on a rope attached to damaged boats which are piled on top of each other at the harbour

Images shared by the Barbados Government Information Service showed the damage to fishing vessels as fishermen tried to save their fleet.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Fishermen push on a blue boat which has been pushed against the harbour wall

Reuters The view of the hurricane from space shows swirling white clouds across the curvature of the earth

Pictures of Hurricane Beryl from the International Space Station show the size of the storm spanning the southern Caribbean.

Reuters Dozens of smashed and collapsed houses litter the landscape

There are “hardly any buildings left standing” on Union Island, one resident told the BBC.

Homes were ripped apart by the storm on the Grenadine island of Carriacou.

Reuters The pirate-style party boat the Pearl leans against the rocks with visible damage

On St Lucia, party boat The Pearl, a popular nightlife spot, was torn from its moorings and dashed against the rocks.

Reuters Benches, tables, boats, rocks and sand pile against the doors of waterfront businesses

Sand, stones and furniture was left smashed against waterfront businesses in Soufriere, St Lucia.

Shutterstock A man standing on the rocks is silhouetted against the waves and spray of the sea

A thrill-seeker got close to the water’s edge as the storm approached the Dominican Republic on Tuesday.

Reuters An uprooted tree with red, yellow and green paint around its base in front of a yellow and blue building missing its roof

Houses lost their roofs after Hurricane Beryl passed over the town of Sauteurs, Grenada.

EPA An agent blocks a road on the boardwalk of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

The full force of Hurricane Beryl passed by the south and south-west of the Dominican Republic, but the wind and rain was still bad enough to close roads and displace dozens of people.