Weather tracker: Hurricane Oscar gathers strength in Atlantic as Australia swelters

Oscar, 10th hurricane of 2024 season, batters Turks and Caicos and Bahamas and threatens Cuba and Canada

Hurricane Oscar has become the 10th hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season, battering the Turks and Caicos Islands on Saturday night and the far southern Bahamas on Sunday.

The disturbance that eventually became Oscar was initially given a low chance of tropical development by the US National Hurricane Center. It began on 10 October as a tropical wave across western Africa, bringing thunderstorms and gusty winds to the Cabo Verde Islands, before moving westwards over the Atlantic. However, it struggled to become sufficiently organised at it progressed, as dry air inhibited further thunderstorm development.