Richard Branson is refusing to leave his 74-acre Necker Island complex in the British Virgin Islands despite the 'extremely dangerous' Hurricane Irma crashing into the Caribbean.

Mass evacuations are to take place in the Florida Keys and the Caribbean after a hurricane the size of France became the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean with 185mph winds.

This morning, the eye of the 'potentially catastrophic' hurricane hit Barbuda just hours after officials warned people to seek protection from Irma's 'onslaught' in a statement that closed with: 'May God protect us all.' 

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center reported that the storm, which is soon expected to make landfall along the string of French islands that includes Guadeloupe before heading to Haiti and Florida, has become the maximum Category 5.

'Preparations should be rushed to completion in the hurricane warning area,' the NHC said in its 1200 GMT bulletin. 

But Branson, writing on his blog yesterday, said he is not going to leave his island to dodge the storm.  The monster hurricane, the most powerful on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, is about 270 miles east of the island of Antigua and is packing maximum sustained winds of 175 miles per hour. 

The storm was moving towards the west at 14 miles per hour, and is expected to drop between four and eight inches of rain when it hits land.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's $50million pad on St Barts is also in the hurricane's path.  

British Airways has already cancelled a flight from Gatwick to Antigua in light of the warnings. These rainfall amounts may cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides,' the NHC warned.

The storm is also is expected to 'cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.'

Branson fully acknowledged the danger of Hurricane Irma, stressing that the 'devastation' they can cause 'cannot be overstated', but said he will stay on his island regardless. 

He said: 'On Necker Island we have constructed really strong buildings (with hurricane blinds) that should be able to handle extreme weather pretty well, though with a Category 5 hurricane almost nothing can withstand it.