Hurricane Melissa is tearing through the Caribbean, bringing record-breaking wind and torrential rain to Jamaica – the island's first ever category 5 landfall.

What makes Melissa so alarming isn't just its size and strength, but the speed with which it became so powerful. In a single day, it exploded from a moderate storm into a major hurricane with 170mph winds.

Scientists call this "rapid intensification". As the planet warms, this violent strengthening is becoming more common.

These storms are especially dangerous as they often catch people off guard. That's because forecasting rapid intensification, although improving, remains a huge challenge.