CATASTROPHIC 145mph winds began to lash Florida today as Hurricane Michael made landfall, affecting the more than 375,000 people living along the Gulf Coast.

The US National Weather Service issued a dire warning as the most powerful storm on record ever to reach north-west Florida approached the shore.

“This storm will bring [a] deadly surge to the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend Coast and is not comparable to anything we have seen before,” it said.