Tropical Storm Ernesto has now become Hurricane Ernesto category 1 as you may know by now. Here in Playa del Carmen which is on the Yucatan coast, we are starting to feel the change in weather. It has been raining on and off all day, nothing more than showers but the wind is strong...already nearly blowing us off our feet.

As photography is a passion of mine, i decided to go down to the beach for some pre-tropical storm/hurricane photos after work...so off i went, camera in hand covered with a black plastic bag and as i got out of the car, the wind was so strong, that i had to lean against a tree, holding my camera firmly in place, to get these few photos.

The waves were crashing and you can't really tell from the photos how high they are but these were pre-storm... luckily I won't be down there when the hurricane hits...

Everybody here seems quite calm, people are securing boats, anything that could fly and they seem to be taking it in their stride.

...20:20  The wind has picked up speed and the rain is coming down in sheets. The roads are starting to fill up with water and there is most certainly going to be some damage and flooding on the horizon. Quintana Roo is now under red alert.