Storm Beryl has become a hurricane.

According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, “maximum sustained winds are now around 100 kilometers per hour with stronger gusts.”

A hurricane warning is in effect for the islands of Barbados, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, the Grenadines and Grenada, while a tropical storm warning is in effect for Martinique, Dominica and Tobago.

The major hurricane that Beryl could develop into is equivalent to a Category 3 or higher, with winds of up to 110 mph (178 km/h). According to experts, such a phenomenon so early in the hurricane season – which runs from early June to late November in the United States – would be extremely rare.

Météo France (French meteorological services) also expects the hurricane to pass “over the Lesser Antilles, between Tobago, the southernmost island, and southern Martinique, the northernmost island” between Monday and Tuesday.

“It is very likely that the sea state will be very turbulent from Sunday night onwards and, above all, during the day on Monday,” the French government services in Martinique predicted.

Waves are expected to reach five meters in height in the St. Lucia Channel, south of the French island.

Beryl is the second tropical phenomenon to be named in the Atlantic basin since early June.

The French Meteorological Service predicted that the 2024 hurricane season would be “one of the most intense on record.” The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also forecast an exceptional season for late May, anticipating the possibility of four to seven or more Category 3 hurricanes.

These forecasts are linked, in particular, to the expected development of the La Niña weather phenomenon, as well as very high temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The opposite phenomenon of El Niño, La Niña, is associated with an abnormal cooling of surface waters in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, forming what is known as a “cold water pool” in that ocean, according to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere.

Global warming is making extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, more frequent and more destructive.