Hurricane Dean began to diminish on Tuesday as it moved across Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, easing fears that it would wreak disaster throughout the popular tourist region.

The winds slowed to 170kph, from the 250kph when the storm first hit the Mexican coast early on Tuesday, after it tore through the Caribbean on Monday, leaving at least eight people dead and causing an estimated $1.5bn (€1.1bn, £756m) of damage.