Tropical Depression 8 in the Atlantic has been upgraded to a Tropical Storm and has been described as a potential threat to Bermuda.

At 6am today, Tropical Storm Gert had winds of 40 knots and gusts of 50 knots and was forecast to pass 278 nautical miles to the north-northwest of the island on Tuesday at 8pm, although the Bermuda Weather Service said it may move closer after that point.

The BWS website stated: “Tropical Storm Gert is forecast to track between Bermuda and the US coast with little effect on our local forecast conditions.”

At 6am, it was 411 nautical miles to the west-southwest of Bermuda, travelling in a north-northwest direction at a speed of eight knots.