The strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Americas is bearing down on Mexico’s Pacific coast, threatening a “potentially catastrophic” landfall.

BBC reports.

The storm is comparable to Typhoon Haiyan, which killed 6,300 people in the Philippines in 2013, the World Meteorological Organization has said.

A state of emergency has been declared in three states in Patricia’s path.

The category five hurricane is expected to make landfall on Friday afternoon or evening, with winds of 325km/h (200mph).

The United States National Hurricane Center said on its website: “Potentially catastrophic Hurricane Patricia moving northward toward landfall in south-western Mexico.”

The centre added that it was the strongest storm it had recorded in the eastern Pacific or the Atlantic.

Some 400,000 people live in vulnerable areas, according to Mexico’s National Disaster Fund.

The hurricane, which will bring torrential rain, could trigger flash floods and mudslides, the U.S centre said.

It also warned of potential flooding from the sea and destructive waves.

The hurricane’s winds are strong enough “to get a plane in the air and keep it flying,” the WMO spokeswoman, Claire Nullis, said.

Mexican authorities have begun evacuating residents ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Patricia, the