Hurricane Matthew's freaky face from space

Hurricane Matthew looking scary. Photo / Stu Ostro, Twitter, Nasa

An ominous satellite image of Hurricane Matthew as it made landfall in Haiti has been widely shared on Twitter.

The devastating hurricane resembles a giant grinning skull in the eerie infrared satellite image, with the eye of the storm appearing as an eye in the skull.

It was posted by Stu Ostro, Senior Director of Weather Communications at The Weather Channel, and was captured by Nasa's Earth Science division's live satellite cameras.

He added that the 'freaky face' reminded him of an image which captured 2005's tropical cyclone Hurricane Wilma featuring a "sinister grin, eyeing where it's going".

Matt Devitt of WINK Weather also shared the image, explaining: "I can confirm this satellite image of Matthew's landfall is REAL and not photoshopped. Captured this morning during my weathercast. Freaky!"

At least 11 people have died in connection with storm, five in Haiti, after Matthew battered the island with 230km/h wind.

Mourad Wahba, UN secretary-general's deputy special representative for Haiti, called the hurricane's destruction the "largest humanitarian event" in Haiti since the devastating earthquake of January 2010.