Hurricane Alex hits north-eastern Mexico bringing heavy rains and winds. Before the arrival of the category two storm, thousands of people were evacuated from low-lying areas. However, the storm’s winds are expected to hit southern Texas and a state of emergency has already been declared.

Hurricane Alex later weakened to a category one storm. High waves and strong winds have also pushed more oil from the spill on the beaches of Louisiana. The storm is not stopping oil recovery at the scene of the leak which is about 50 miles (80km) off the Louisiana coast.

On Wednesday at 2200 local time (0200 GMT on Thursday), Hurricane Alex made a landfall at Soto La Marina in Mexico’s Tamaulipas state. The strong is moving west at about 10mph and is about 110 miles south of Brownsville, Texas. According to the NHC, the storm had sustained winds of 85mph (137km/h).

Alex is expected to weaken to a tropical storm on Thursday and dissipate over Mexico by Friday. However, this is the first Atlantic hurricane formed as early as June since 1995.