Mexico

The President of Mexico has said the country has entered "the recovery phase" and pledged to help rebuild areas which were in the path of Hurricane Patricia when it made landfall on the country's coast.

President Enrique Pena Nieto posted a message of support to people on Twitter, saying "what follows now is the recovery phase, to ensure the prompt restoration of services".

Patricia, one of the strongest hurricanes in history, has now been downgraded to a tropical depression after weakening to 35 miles-per-hour, the US National Hurricane Center has said.

David Cameron has praised the "preparedness" of the Mexican authorities for Hurricane Patricia after one of the most powerful storms on record made landfall.

Heavy damage appears to have been avoided, while there have been no reports of fatalities so far.

Hurricane Patricia is now "rapidly weakening" over Mexico, the US National Hurricane Centre said.

Hurricane Patricia has weakened to a Category Two storm but authorities have warned deadly floods and mudslides are now likely.

"The first reports confirm that the damage has been less than those expected from a hurricane of this magnitude," Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said.

But he added: "We cannot yet let our guard down".

Hurricane Patricia has weakened to a category 4 storm over Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center in the US.

They say it is expected to rapidly weaken to a tropical storm by Saturday morning.

Hurricane Patricia has brought torrential rain, surging sea and cyclonic winds of up to 165 miles per hour as it hit the Pacific coast.

Forecasters have warned it will potentially cause “catastrophic” damage.

Television footage showed toppled trees and rain lashing down.