Hurricane Juan continued to stay away from Bermuda at midday today as the Island exercised an abundance of caution towards the storm.

The storm was upgraded from a tropical storm to a hurricane at midday when it was located near 32.2 degrees north 62 degrees west or 135 nautical miles east of Bermuda.

The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 65 knots with gusts to 80 knots and was moving north at seven knots.

Bermuda Weather Service said the closest point of approach of Hurricane Juan to Bermuda was forecast to be approximately 125 nautical miles to the east-northeast at 5 p.m. today.

Although the hurricane stirred up the seas around the Island, most people went around their daily actitivies unaffecyed by the storm.

In advance of the storm, the Causeway was closed at 9.30 a.m. in anticipation of high winds.

Ferries are not in service and because buses were unable to use the Causeway, East End schools were closed.

"We are obviously concerned to ensure that no member of our community is exposed to harm as a result of the high winds," said Acting Public Safety Minister Terry Lister who added that the decision by the Emergency Measures Organisation (EMO) was the concern for safety of people on the bridge.

"Consequently, we have taken these steps and are asking the public to bear with us, recognising that the closure of the Causeway will be inconvenient to many who reside in the east end."

The Bermuda Weather Service said the storm is a threat to Bermuda with winds forecast at 20 to 30 knots with possible gusts of 35 knots scheduled to last until late this afternoon with 15 to 18 foot seas outside the reef.

Residents should secure tarpaulins that may still be on roofs and secure all objects that could be picked up during the storm.

As for access to and from St. George's, emergency vehicles will be allowed across the bridge on a case-by-case basis and Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown said that all ferry services are cancelled today.

Bus service on the rest of the Island is scheduled to resume as normal but buses still will not be able to cross the Causeway and the Transport Ministry urged the public to be vigilant throughout the day and check on regular updates to the service.

All flights in and out of the Island are cancelled today but Dr. Brown was confident that transport would resume as normal by Saturday.

The Ministry of Education and Development has closed all East End schools for today including St. George's Preparatory, East End Primary, St. David's Primary, St. David's Pre-School and St. George's Pre-School.

All teachers who live west of the Causeway should report to the Ministry of Education tomorrow for assignments as they will be filling in at schools where teachers were not available to travel due to the Causeway closing.

Four cruise ships left the Bermuda ports yesterday including Norwegian Majesty, Nordic Empress, Norwegian Sea and Zenith. The Horizon was scheduled to leave this morning.

Tropical Depression 16 is also making its way westward toward the Island. At 6 a.m. it was about 1,780 miles south east of Bermuda and travelling to the west-northwest at ten knots. Its maximum winds were near 30 knots with higher gusts.

Its closest point of approach in the next 72 hours is estimated to be at 3 a.m. on Monday when it will be 1,120 nautical miles south-east of Bermuda.