Hurricane Irma makes landfall over Florida

Hurricane Irma began its assault on the south-eastern US state of Florida early on Sunday, with the storm's northern eyewall arriving at the lower Florida Keys as a powerful Category 4 storm.

The storm struck the area with winds of up to 130 mph and is expected to remain powerful as it moves through the Florida Keys.

Prior to Irma's arrival, tens of thousands of residents fled to shelters, where they huddled and waited for updates as the storm swung to the west. It is expected that the change in direction will spare Tampa and avoid the head-on blow that was predicted to hit Miami.

Popular holiday resorts in Tampa and the surrounding areas have been closed.

In the Orlando area, Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World all were closing Saturday. The Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Orlando airports shut down.

Irma's leading edge left palm trees bent and sent rain across South Florida. It also knocked out power to 430,000 homes and buildings as the eye of the storm approached Key West.

Despite authorities warning around 6.4 million people to flee on Saturday, the width of the storm, which is 350 to 400 miles wide, exposed the entire Florida peninsula to threat.

Last week, Irma was recorded as the most poweful hurricane in the open Atlantic, with a peak wind speed of 185 mph.

It left more than 20 people dead across the Caribbean.

Tampa Bay has not been struck by a major hurricane since 1921, when the area's population numbered around 10,000. Meteorologists predict that Hurricane Irma will hit the bay area, which has a population of around 3 million, on Monday.

Hurricane Irma's size and strength has given it the potential to be one of the most devastating hurricanes to ever hit Florida.