Tropical Storm Earl is considered a potential threat to the island, the Bermuda Weather Service has warned.

As of this morning, the storm was 787 miles south of Bermuda at 6am today, however the storm is expected to travel north in the coming days, gaining strength in the process.

According to the Bermuda Weather Service, its closest point of approach in the next three days is expected to be 323 miles to the south on Thursday morning, by which time the storm is expected to have become a hurricane.

However its projected track shows it moving closer to the island after that time, before veering to the northeast on Friday and passing to the east of Bermuda as a Category 2 or 3 hurricane.

The US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said this morning: “Earl is moving toward the north-northwest near 5 mph.

“A turn toward the north at a slightly faster forward speed is expected later today, with this motion continuing for the next couple of days.

“Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph with higher gusts. Slow strengthening is forecast over the next several days, and Earl could become a hurricane later this week.

“Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles from the centre.”

The fourth named storm of this year’s season, Danielle is now far from any Atlantic shoreline and was expected to remain largely stationary over the weekend,

The storm has regained hurricane status and is projected to move slowly to the east, weakening to tropical storm strength by Thursday.