Paloma is expected to hit the Cayman Islands late on Friday and then move towards Cuba, striking its southern coast on Sunday.

At 0900GMT, the Category One storm was 175km (110 miles) south of Grand Cayman, with 130km/h (80mph) winds.

It is expected to become a Category Two storm later in the day.

Paloma is the 16th storm of the Atlantic storm season and the eighth hurricane. It has already brought heavy rain to parts of Honduras and Nicaragua.

'No complacency'

Residents of the Caymans, Cuba and Jamaica have all been put on alert.

Authorities in the Cayman Islands have urged residents not to leave storm preparations to the last minute.

"History has taught us that we cannot afford complacency during hurricane season, for conditions can rapidly deteriorate," said the islands' top elected official, Kurt Tibbetts.

In Cuba, officials in every province were working to "guarantee the protection of the public and economic resources", the Civil Defense said.

Paloma would be the fifth hurricane to hit Cuba this season.

Gustav and Ike, which struck Cuba on 30 August and 9 September respectively, caused billions of dollars worth of damage and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes.