William and Kate to donate privately to Hurricane Beryl relief efforts

The Prince and Princess of Wales are understood to be donating privately to Hurricane Beryl relief efforts after the powerful storm tore through islands in the south-east Caribbean.

At least six people are known to have been killed in Grenada , Venezuela and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

William and Kate will support relief efforts and continue to follow the impact closely, the PA news agency understands.

A hurricane warning is in effect for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac.

Hurricane Beryl was forecast to be near major-hurricane strength when it passed near or over Jamaica early on Wednesday, and near the Cayman Islands on Thursday and into Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, according to the National Hurricane Centre.

A hurricane watch was in effect for Haiti’s southern coast and the Yucatan’s east coast, as Belize issued a tropical storm watch stretching south from its border with Mexico to Belize City.

Late on Monday, Beryl became the earliest storm to develop into a Category five hurricane in the Atlantic and peaked at winds of 165mph on Tuesday before weakening to a still-destructive Category four.

On Wednesday, the storm was about 250 miles east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica. It had top winds of 145mph and was moving west-northwest at 22mph, the centre said.

Three people were reported killed in Grenada and Carriacou and another in St Vincent and the Grenadines, officials said.

Two other deaths were reported in northern Venezuela, where five people are missing, officials said.

One fatality in Grenada occurred after a tree fell on a house.