Boris Johnson to visit Caribbean after UK criticised for 'slow response' to Hurricane Irma

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will fly to the Caribbean to visit communities affected by the devastating Hurricane Irma, according to reports.

At least 37 people were killed and thousands left homeless when the hurricane struck several islands in the area during September. Most of the territories impacted are controlled by the UK, the US, France, and the Netherlands.

The hurricane, which was later downgraded from a Category 5 to a Category 2 storm, also hit Florida, where another 10 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Johnson will visit the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla, both British Overseas Territories, according to the BBC. He is expected to visit affected communities and meet local governors.

His trip comes after the UK government was criticised for its perceived slow and inadequate response to help affected communities in its overseas territories.

Both Johnson and Prime Minister Theresa May said British troops sent to oversea territories to provide support were working round the clock. May also announced the government would be increasing the relief fund for British Overseas Territories left devastated by Irma from £12m to £32m.

After chairing a Cobra meeting on Hurricane Irma on Monday 11 September, Johnson said that those affected by the hurricane remain "upmost in our thoughts and we are continuing to sending more police.

"We already have 700 troops in the area and we are seeing confidence now starting to rise. I want to be in no doubt that we are continuing to work round the clock on all these issues," he added.

There will be nervous eyes in Downing Street on Johnson, who is prone to gaffes. Recent reports claimed diplomats from other countries are reluctant to engage with Johnson as they do not take him seriously in his role as a foreign secretary.

An article in The Times quoted anonymous diplomatic sources as saying Johnson was regarded as a "a joke" and "a clown". But Number 10 said May had full confidence in Johnson. "The prime minister meets the foreign secretary regularly and they have a good relationship," a spokesperson told Sky News in August.

Johnson has in the past made controversial remarks on colonialism in Africa, which he also referred to as "that country" during a 2016 Conservative party conference. More recently, he faced criticism for remarks he made about Brexit and the European Union, in which he compared it to Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany.