These space pictures of Hurricane Patricia, the strongest hurricane on record, are scary but breathtaking

Hurricane Patricia, the strongest hurricane ever recorded, made landfall on the Pacific coast of Mexico late on Friday evening.

Its 200mph winds are losing strength, but it is still expected to cause extensive damage as it travels inland of Mexico and experts have predicted 40ft high waves.

The National Hurricane Center in the US warned that the Category 5 hurricane is “expected to remain extremely dangerous".

By way of comparison, this is what Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest and deadliest storms of recent years, looked like right before it made landfall in the Philippines in November 2013:

Nasa has taken satellite images of the incoming Patricia, including this image of the developing hurricane on 22 October, using the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera.

Astronaut Scott Kelly, who is spending a year in space aboard the International Space Station, managed to take a few impressive photographs of his own, tweeting them along with a message to people on Earth to stay safe:

On Friday, Nasa also released heartstopping footage from the International Space Station of the Hurricane via YouTube right before it hit Mexico.

Watch the full video, below:

Thousands of people have been evacuated from Mexico's coastline, and so far the hurricane hasn't caused as much damage as feared.

However, Mexico's president Enrique Pena Nieto has warned that Patricia still poses a threat of floods and landslides as the rain continues.

(H/T Mashable)

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