"The UK government is mobilising pound2.5m in emergency humanitarian funding to support the Caribbean region's recovery," the foreign ministry said, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the devastation caused by the hurricane "truly shocking".

The funding will be used for supplies including shelter kits, water filters and blankets as well as to help prevent injury and disease outbreaks.

The Foreign Office has set up a crisis centre to provide consular assistance to British nationals in the region.

The Royal Navy's HMS Trent was also at hand to provide humanitarian aid, the government said.

UK media reported ahead of the hurricane's landfall that there were around 50,000 British dual nationals and 5,000 nationals in the popular Caribbean holiday destination.

Melissa hit Jamaica as a Category 5 storm on Tuesday with winds of nearly 185 miles (300 kilometres) per hour. The most powerful storm to hit Jamaica since records began caused widespread power cuts and communication disruptions but the full extent of damage has yet to emerge.