Tornadoes hit Florida as Hurricane Milton approaches

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Miami has issued a tornado watch and several tornado warnings for parts of Florida as Hurricane Milton rapidly approaches west-central Florida.

On Wednesday morning, the NWS reported several tornadoes, including one crossing the I-75 highway, and urged residents to seek shelter immediately.

The tornado watch remains valid until Wednesday evening at 9pm ET and covers parts of south Florida including Miami, Key Largo, Tampa, Port St Lucie, Jupiter Farms, Sebring, Sebastian, Sarasota, North Port, Cape Coral and Bonita Springs, according to the agency.

As of 11am ET, three tornado warnings are also in effect. A tornado watch is issued when a tornado is possible, while a tornado warning is issued when a tornado is happening or about to happen, per the NWS.

Videos and pictures posted online showed several of the spotted tornadoes growing in size as they move across south Florida.

The agency also warned that isolated hail up to 0.5in in size is possible, along with isolated gusts of wind traveling up to 70mph (112km/h). Approximately 12.6 million residents face potential exposure to the tornadoes, in addition to 2,424 schools and 170 hospitals.

The tornado watch and warnings come as the Hurricane Milton is expected to double in size as the “storm of the century” by the time it makes landfall late on Wednesday or early Thursday.

The record storm is expected to bring up to 15ft (4.5 metres) of storm surge along the coast of Florida as the state continues to reel from the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Helene a few weeks ago.