Hurricane Karl gaining strength in Mexico, as Igor heads for Bermuda

Hurricane Karl has sustained winds of up to 165 kilometres per hour, and could gain major hurricane strength before reaching the coast of Mexico, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said.

Karl has already soaked Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and lashed the country’s main offshore oil platforms.

Around midday today, the storm was expected to crash ashore in the state of Veracruz as a category three storm, according to Mexico’s national weather forecast.

"Additional strengthening is expected," the centre said warning also that the storm could trigger life-threatening flash flooding especially in mountainous areas.

"A dangerous storm surge will raise water levels by as much as 2-3 meters (6-9 feet) above normal tide levels along the immediate coast near and to the north of where the center makes landfall," the NHC said.

Meanwhile, in the Atlantic, another dangerous category three hurricane Igor, at winds of 205 kilometres per hour, generated large swells that could see dangerous surf from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands up to the US east coast. Fears have been raised for Bermuda, as the eye of the storm is expected to pass close by.

"The island can expect tropical storm force winds sometime around midnight Saturday and even worse conditions late Sunday around midnight when the current forecast is for a direct hit," a spokeswoman for the Emergency Measures Organization said.

Succeeding Igor is Julia, a weakening category one hurricane out in the Atlantic with no current threats to land.

The last time so many storms hit the Atlantic basin was in September 1998, when over 600 people were killed a four hurricanes struck together, the worst of which was hurricane Georges.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted an especially stormy 2010, with 14 to 23 named storms for this season, including eight to 14 hurricanes.

On average, there are 11 named storms, six of which become hurricanes, in a six-month season.

There has been unusually high storm activity since 1995, according to NOAA.