Irish leader issues urgent message to citizens and tourists trapped by Hurricane Milton

Taoiseach Simon Harris has urged an urgent message to Irish citizens and tourists stranded by Hurricane Milton . The west coast of Florida is due to get battered by the Category 5 storm which is set to make landfall on Wednesday.

As Milton hurtles towards the Gulf Coast , Tampa Bay Mayor Jane Castor called it potentially the worst hurricane to strike in a century and warned "if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die."

Mass evacuations have sparked gridlock, with images depicting a long line of vehicles crawling out of Tampa and Lakeland , while gas stations are reportedly drying up in many areas due to drivers filling their tanks in preparation.

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Florida is a huge holiday state for the Irish and with attractions like t he theme parks in Orlando reportedly closing on Wednesday afternoon until at least Thursday , Harris has ramped up messaging to vacationers across the pond.

Speaking in Washington, Harris, who was meant to meet Joe Biden before the White House reception was canceled due to Milton's "grave threat," said: "I'm conscious there may be Irish people residing in Florida or visiting Florida.

"Our consulate in Miami stands ready to help and assist with any information or assistance that may be required in the hours and days ahead. I'm really conscious that there's a huge national effort underway here to prepare for an extraordinarily significant hurricane ... our thoughts are with all of those who are in the path of this hurricane".

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It comes as Irish travel company American Holidays confirmed it moved 70 Irish tourists from the coast to central Florida to avoid being in the path of the "catastrophic" conditions . The company is keeping in contact with them.

"It is mainly couples at the moment," spokesperson Bladhana Richardson told RTÉ.

"We do have some families, but as it’s outside of school holidays, thankfully there's less families traveling at present.

" We have been moving their bookings if we need to move them . We've been giving them updates and asking them to do practical things like keep their phones charged and follow the guidance of the hotels where they'll be staying".

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Ms Richardson added that those scheduled to travel to the Tampa area in the next 24 hours have been contacted and their travel is being rearranged.

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