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. 

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. 

America's National Hurricane Center said Irma had strengthened into a dangerous Category 5 storm as it made its first landfall in islands of northeast Caribbean on a path that could take it to the United States - causing thousands to start panic buying and preparing to evacuate.

This morning, the eye of the 'potentially catastrophic' hurricane slammed into 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.'

Heavy rain and howling winds raked the neighboring island of Antigua, sending debris flying as people huddled in their homes or government shelters. The island of Anguilla is next in its path.

U.S. President Donald Trump declared emergencies in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and authorities in the Bahamas said they would evacuate the residents of six islands at the southern end of the island chain.  

Experts say Irma is now so powerful it is registering on devices designed to detect earthquakes. Scientists picked up the background noise of winds causing trees to move and crashing ocean waves on their earthquake-detecting seismometers. 

It is expected to become the second powerful storm to thrash the U.S. mainland in as many weeks after devastating Hurricane Harvey. 

In addition to Irma, Tropical Storm Jose has now formed behind it in the open Atlantic far from land. Jose is the 10th tropical storm of the season. It has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and is about 1505 miles east of the Lesser Antilles.  Four other storms have had winds that strong in the overall Atlantic region, but they have been in the Caribbean Sea or the Gulf of Mexico where the usually warmer waters fuel tropical cyclones. Experts say Irma's strength is a result of unusually warm water for that part of the Atlantic. 

The center said there was a growing possibility that the storm's effects could be felt in Florida later this week and over the weekend, though it was still too early to be sure of its future track: 'Everyone in hurricane-prone areas should ensure that they have their hurricane plan in place.'

So far, a state of emergency has been called in the state and a mandatory evacuation is under way in the Florida Keys.  Schools there are also cancelled until further notice. 

Governor Rick Scott activated 100 members of the Florida National Guard to be deployed across the state, and 7,000 more National Guard members were to report for duty on Friday when the storm could be approaching. 

Pictures showed people rushing to stock up on drinking water, protective wooden boards for their windows and other supplies.

Meanwhile, tourists have had their Caribbean holiday plans thrown into chaos as Hurricane Irma forces airlines to ground or divert flights.

Antigua airport will be closed on Wednesday and San Juan airport, the busiest in Puerto Rico, has cancelled about 40 per cent of its flights in response to the hurricane.

British Airways sent an empty aircraft to the region to bring customers back early - the full flight of 326 passengers touched down in the UK on Tuesday evening.

It also cancelled a flight from the UK heading to Antigua and then on to Tobago. 

Four serving members of the Army have been arrested under anti-terror laws on suspicion of being members of banned neo-Nazi group National Action.

A fifth person - a civilian - has also been arrested on the same charge. One of the soldiers was detained by the Royal Military Police in Cyprus.

The arrests were pre-planned and intelligence-led, and there had been no threat to public safety, police said.

The Army said it had supported the operation. 

Four of the men are being held at a West Midlands police station.

Police said they were a 22-year-old from Birmingham, a 32-year-old from Powys, a 24-year-old from Ipswich and a 24-year-old from Northampton. 

Police are continuing to search several properties.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman confirmed the man detained in Cyprus had been held at the island's British Dhekelia base before being transferred to RAF Akrotiri, from where he will be flown to the UK.

Properties searched

An Army spokesman said: "We can confirm that a number of serving members of the Army have been arrested under the Terrorism Act for being associated with a proscribed far-right group.

"This is now the subject of a civilian police investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment further."

Three of the servicemen are believed to be from the Royal Anglian Regiment. 

The men are being held on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000; namely on suspicion of being members of a proscribed organisation.

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Who are National Action?

By Dominic Casciani, BBC home affairs correspondent

National Action became the first British neo-Nazi group to be banned last December after Home Secretary Amber Rudd said it was promoting violence and acts of terrorism. 

Members and supporters applauded the murder of Jo Cox MP by a white supremacist - and the group had carried out a series of small, but confrontational, demonstrations in towns and cities throughout England. 

One of its most notorious events saw masked members - many of them very young men - gathering outside York Minster to make Hitler salutes. 

Since it was banned, detectives have been carrying out more and more investigations into the group which, to all intents and purposes, has organised itself in a similar way to the banned al Muhajiroun network - the extremist Islamist youth movement. 

Both have used social media to target young people, attracting them with a simplistic us-and-them message designed to make them angry. 

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Being a member of - or inviting support for - a proscribed organisation is a criminal offence carrying a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

There are 71 such groups listed by the Home Office on its register. 

They include a range of international and national groups, of which National Action was the first far-right group to be banned. 

William Baldet, a co-ordinator for the government's counter-terrorism strategy known as Prevent, said about a third of the cases dealt with through the scheme were related to far right and extreme right-wing groups.

"National Action are explicitly neo-Nazi," he told Radio 4's PM programme. 

"It's a white supremacist organisation that sees the extinction of white people as a very real and likely possibility."

The 22-year-old woman died in King’s College Hospital on August 28 after being taken ill at a house in Knight’s Hill, Lambeth. Her family has been informed and a post mortem examination will be carried out on Monday.

One of her friends, a man in his 20s, was also taken to hospital in a critical condition and has since been discharged.

They are both believed to have taken ecstasy with other friends at Crystals nightclub in Lewisham, police said.

Analysis of pills seized from the address in Knight’s Hill found that they contained MDMA (ecstasy) and ketamine, according to officers. 

This summer is just around the corner in the southern hemisphere and swimwear season inching ever closer, many will be thinking of shifting a few pesky kilos before the weather heats up.

Which is why Australian nutritionist, Susie Burrel has shared her top tips for getting your eating back on track in time for the new season.

From concentrating on your meal timing to making sure dinner is your smallest meal, here FEMAIL outlines Ms Burrell's words of wisdom. SUPERCHARGE YOUR BREAKFAST

For the expert, the most important thing is that your breakfast is supercharged and given a protein boost.

'Whether you choose a couple of eggs; a hearty serve of Greek yoghurt or a protein shake, research shows that consuming 20g of protein at breakfast helps to control the hormone insulin which regulates fat metabolism in the body,' Ms Burrell posted on her Shape Me blog. 

The nutritionist added that protein breakfasts are the most likely ones to keep you full until lunchtime - and therefore stop you from reaching for that 11am biscuit.

'Even better, add some extra vegetables to bulk up your protein rich brekkie – a vegetable omelette, veg juice added to your yoghurt or some veggies blended into your shake or smoothie,' she explained. CONCENTRATE ON TIMING

Next on Ms Burrell's list of priorities is ensuring that when you eat your meals is the right time of day.

According to Ms Burrell, we eat our meals a lot later in the day than we did 20-30 years ago - and this means that our waistlines are wider as a result.

'Breakfast by 8am, lunch by 1pm and dinner by 7pm so you have 10-12 hours without food overnight,' she said. 'So simple yet so effective.'

For those who are looking for a sign that they're on the right track, Ms Burrell recommends recognising and applauding yourself 'when you actually wake up in the morning hungry. KEEP DINNER SMALL

So often, thanks to busy working lives, dinners are the biggest meal we eat each day.

But, according to Ms Burrell, we should be following the age-old adage - breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper.

'The greater of volume of food we eat at night, when we are least active, the harder it will be to lose weight,' she explained.

'For this reason, committing to eating a light, relatively low calorie meal as early as possible is an easy way to drop a few kilos quickly'.

The expert advocates a piece of white fish and vegetables or 100 grams of lean meat with salad as 300-400 calorie options. While counting calories can be important for weight loss, if you really want to get lean and tone up it's all about counting your carbohydrates.

'As carbs are the key source of fuel for the muscle, actively counting the amount you are consuming is an easy way to control your total fuel intake,' Ms Burrell explained. 

She said that 'small females will lose weight safely on 120-140g of total carbs each day', while men should look to go between 140 and 180g.

'A good example of how you can cut back is by swapping large slices of Turkish or sourdough bread (40-60g carbs) for smaller, thinner slices of lower carb wholemeal or multigrain bread (20-30g carbs) per serve,' Ms Burrell said. SWAP A MEAL

Last but not least, it really can help if you substitute one meal a day for soup or salad.

'Very few of us get 2-3 cups of salad and vegetables we need at both lunch and dinner for optimal health and nutrition,' Ms Burrell said.

'The low calorie content of vegetable-based soups and salads means that you could literally eat as much of these foods as you like without weight gain.'

Replace a meal with a vegetable soup at lunch or roasted veg salad for dinner - you'll notice a difference in days.

It found that most people arrive at A&E with minor injuries such as cuts or sprains.

And this means everyone is waiting longer to be seen. According to 2016/17 figures, more than 2.5 million people in English A&E units alone had to wait for over four hours to be seen. ‘The vast majority of people presenting at A&E could easily be treated at home with basic first aid and save a huge amount of NHS time, money and resources,’ says Emma Hammett, former A&E nurse and founder of First Aid for Life, a first aid training school.

Here, with the help of first aid experts, we explain how to deal with common medical mishaps, and help identify when you really should head to hospital.

NOSEBLEEDS

Usually caused by a burst blood vessel within the nose, this often looks much worse than it is. ‘Serious blood loss is rare and the bleeding is mostly self-limiting,’ says Emma Hammett.

WHAT NOT TO DO: Don’t tilt your head back as this may cause blood to run down your throat which can irritate your stomach and make you sick.

WHAT TO DO: Tilt your head forward and pinch your nose to compress the bleeding vessel. ‘Applying pressure, allow the blood vessel to reseal and stop the bleeding within ten minutes,’ says Alan Weir, clinical director of St John Ambulance.

RED FLAGS: ‘If the bleeding is still heavy 30 minutes after you apply pressure, you are swallowing a large amount of blood that is making you vomit, or the bleeding started after you received a blow to the head, go to A&E,’ says Alan Weir.

FEVER IN CHILDREN

A child who is well in himself, but has a high temperature, should not be in casualty a lot of the time, says Emma Hammett. ‘A&E departments are clogged up with sleepy children in pyjamas who really ought to be resting at home.’

WHAT NOT TO DO: Putting children in a lukewarm bath to cool them down is no longer recommended by experts. WHAT TO DO: Make sure the child remains well-hydrated and don’t wrap them up as this will encourage their temperature to rise.

RED FLAGS: ‘If a child is floppy with glazed eyes or has a seizure for the first time then take them to A&E, as this could be an indicator of something more serious,’ says Emma Hammett.

FAINTING

Caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain, in the vast majority of cases this is due to simple things like standing up too quickly, says Tracey Taylor.

WHAT NOT TO DO: Don’t bother splashing cold water in their face. ‘It’s a shock to the system and they can end up inhaling water,’ says Alan Weir.

WHAT TO DO: ‘If someone faints, then put them on their back and raise their legs above heart level to restore blood flow to the brain,’ says Alan Weir.

If the patient is diabetic, give them a sugary drink or sweet as the faint may have been caused by a dip in blood sugar levels.

RED FLAGS: People should regaining consciousness within a matter of seconds. ‘If they don’t wake up after a few minutes then call an ambulance,’ says Alan Weir.

Accompanying chest pain, palpitations and light-headedness, a family history of cardiac disorders and a preceding headache are all red flags.

SPRAINS AND BREAKS

A&E is clogged full of people with suspected broken bones. ‘Unless you are seriously worried that you have broken a bone, treat the problem at home and see if it improves within the next few hours,’ says Emma Hammett.

WHAT NOT TO DO: There’s no real treatment for broken toes other than pain relief and strapping, which you can do at home.

WHAT TO DO: ‘Use a wrapped bag of frozen peas to bring down the swelling in the area and elevate it on a pillow,’ she says.

On the Internet, cyberbullying takes various forms, says Netsmartz411.org, an online resource that educates parents about Internet safety. Cyberbullying includes sending hateful messages or even death threats to children, spreading lies about them online, making nasty comments on their social networking profiles, or creating a website to bash their looks or reputation. Cyberbullying differs from schoolyard bullying, Handy says. Teachers can't intervene on the Internet. "When it happens online, there's no one to filter it," she says. And cyberbullies don't witness their victims' reactions, the way they might if they insulted others to their faces. "They don't see you crying," Handy says, which may make it easier for them to continue.

Some cyberbullies pose as their victims and send out harassing messages to others. Recently, cyberbullies have also begun posting humiliating videos of other kids they dislike, says Parry Aftab, a cyberspace security and privacy lawyer who also serves as executive director of WiredSafety.org, one of the largest Internet safety education groups in the world. In the age of YouTube, a website that hosts videos shot by users, "Kids are looking for their 15 megabytes of fame," Aftab says. "They do it to show that they're big enough, popular enough, cool enough to get away with it."

Often, kids don't tell parents they're being cyberbullied; they're afraid their parents will overreact or yank Internet privileges, Aftab adds. Her advice? If your son or daughter tells you, stay calm. If it's a one-time thing, try to ignore the bully and block future contact, she says. But if the cyberbullying involves any physical threat, you may need to call the police. Some tips from Netsmartz.org for responding to cyberbullying:

• To keep others from using their email and Internet accounts, kids should never share Internet passwords with anyone other than parents, experts say.
• If children are harassed or bullied through instant messaging, help them use the "block" or "ban" feature to prevent the bully from contacting them.
• If a child keeps getting harassing emails, delete that email account and set up a new one. Remind your child to give the new email address only to family and a few trusted friends.
• Tell your child not to respond to rude or harassing emails, messages and postings. If the cyberbullying continues, call the police. Keep a record of the emails as proof. The online world opens the door for trusting young people to interact with virtual strangers - even people they'd normally cross the street to avoid in real life. About 1 in 7 kids have been sexually solicited online, says John Shehan, CyberTipline program manager for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Virginia. The CyberTipline helps prevent sexual exploitation of children by reporting cases of kids enticed online to do sexual acts.
  While sexual predators have targeted children in chat rooms, they migrate to wherever young people go online, Shehan says. More predators are now scouring social networking sites, such as MySpace and Xanga, because these sites have centralized so much information, Shehan says. A child's profile typically includes photos, personal interests and blogs.