Terrified British tourists were evacuated from shelter to shelter, huddled together in cramped conditions with no electricity, food or blankets.

Hotel windows were shattered and roofs torn off while high waves entirely cut off the scuba diving paradise of Cozumel Island.

Wilma was a Category 3 storm as it slammed into the Yucatan Peninsula, packing winds of 115mph and dumping tremendous amounts of rain.

It was expected to linger over Mexico for the rest of the weekend, leaving some 20,000 tourists trapped in the midst of its fury.

Rachel and Carl Farricker, from Altham in Lancashire, had been due to return from an “idyllic” two week holiday in Cancun on Thursday.

Mrs Farricker, 39, contacted a friend in England to say the roof had being torn off their shelter and they had been forced to move to a school room instead.

“Evacuated by bus to tiny school room. No blankets or pillows or food or electricity, just water,” her text message read.

“Roads flooded bad, hit a power line. Trees everywhere, huge gale blowing, must be close but no information or reps here.” it went on.

British embassy staff have been deployed to the region to assist stranded tourists and a consular rapid deployment team from London is on stand-by.

Wilma beat an erratic path and moved unusually slowly. Storm surges were expected to reach up to 11 feet in Cancun and more than three feet of rain was expected in isolated areas.

The eye of the Category 3 storm, which had already killed 13 people in Jamaica and Haiti, first moved over Cozumel Island, the worst-hit, and now cut off, then wobbled by Playa del Carmen and Cancun, allowing a light breeze and a much-needed calm to fall over both cities.

The howling winds caused severe damage in Playa del Carmen, flattening dozens of wood-and-tarpaper houses, and sending everything from rooftop water tanks to boards used as window coverings flying through the air.

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