ABOUT 4,000 British tourists in Jamaica were bracing themselves for 150mph winds as Hurricane Dean threatened to crash into the Caribbean island today.

The holidaymakers and hundreds of other Britons visiting family in Jamaica were being urged to seek cover in emergency shelters and to stock up on supplies. Flights into Kingston and Montego Bay were being cancelled.

Dean has already claimed at least six victims in the Caribbean. The satellite image shows it passing south of the Dominican Republic on a collision course with Jamaica and Mexico. Staff were being evacuated from oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico last night. Fearing that Dean might veer towards Mission Control in Houston, Nasa ordered the space shuttle Endeavour to return a day early.