Hurricane Irma's eyewall slammed into the lower Florida Keys Sunday, lashing the island chain with fearsome wind gusts, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The eye of the Category 4 storm was 15 miles (24 kilometers) southeast of Key West as of 7:00 am local time (1100 GMT), bringing maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour and threatening dangerous storm surges.

Environmental ministers representing Canada, China and the European Union will co-host a meeting in Montreal later this month to move forward with the implementation of the Paris climate change agreement.

Hurricane Irma killed two people and wounded 43 others when it barreled through the Dutch part of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, a Dutch official said Friday.

Hurricane Katia strengthened on Friday to Category Two storm on a scale of five as it raged towards the eastern coast of Mexico, authorities said.

Florida Governor Rick Scott warned Friday that all of the state's 20 million inhabitants should be prepared to evacuate as Hurricane Irma bears down for a direct hit on the southern U.S. state.

"The storm is powerful and deadly," Scott said. "Do not ignore evacuation orders.

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands will visit the island of Curacao on Sunday to witness first-hand the aid operation for hurricane-hit territories, and may travel to stricken St Martin, Dutch officials said.

Hurricane Jose strengthened to a Category Three storm Thursday, as it followed in the path of monster Hurricane Irma, U.S. weather forecasters said.

Damage caused by Hurricane Irma on French islands in the Caribbean is estimated to be "much higher" than 200 million euros ($240 million), a state insurance group said on Friday. 

At least one person was killed and "several were injured" after Hurricane Irma raged over Dutch Sint Maarten in the Caribbean, Internal Affairs Minister Ronald Plasterk said Thursday.

Hurricane Jose, a Category 1 storm packing winds of about 135 kilometers per hour (85 miles per hour), is approaching the Caribbean hot on the heels of Irma, but will likely bypass land, according to the French weather service.