People are being advised to take the usual hurricane precautions over the next 48 hours as Tropical Storm Florence is set to hit the Island.

Although the storm was reported to be stationary last night, it is expected to gain speed and strength today and could reach gusts up to 50 knots.

At 6 p.m. yesterday, Bermuda Weather Service located Florence 473 nautical miles west-southwest of the Island and predicted that it would arrive here around 2 a.m. tomorrow.

Bermuda went into tropical storm watch at noon yesterday, which means that winds of force may be experienced within 36 hours.

Among those taking precautions were the cruise liners staying in Bermuda, which each altered their timetables and decided to leave early in a bid to miss the onslaught of bad weather.

At Bermuda International Airport, General Manager Marshall Minors said preparations had already been made and his staff had battened down any loose equipment.

The airlines said although as of last night no alterations had been made to flights, passengers expecting to fly in or out of Bermuda over the next 48 hours were urged to contact them first.

Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety Paula Cox, who is also chairman of Government's Emergency Measures Organisation (EMO), said: "As far as I am concerned, we should be vigilant now.

Florence to bring stormy weather "Tropical Storm Florence may or may not develop into a hurricane, but at the closest point of approach, it will be only 84 nautical miles to our west-northwest, virtually on our doorstep.

"So we cannot be complacent.

"So far, we are not experiencing any effects, but as we go into the weekend, we should keep on the alert and heed all advisories, particularly warnings during high surf conditions.'' She said the EMO was keeping a close watch on the storm and was ready to meet should conditions deteriorate.

The imminent storm was last night also threatening to disrupt this year's Bermuda Jazz Festival at Dockyard.

Concerts attended by hundreds of people are planned for tonight and tomorrow night.

Charles Webb, spokesman for the Department of Tourism, said up to now, everything was as planned.

He added: "The programme is as planned and the Jazz Festival will go on.

"If there is the need to do any cancellations, those tickets will be refunded, but as it stands, the show will go on.

"It's fair to say that only an act of God will cause it to be cancelled.'' Jason Farrar, of Track Entertainment, which has been involved in organising the event, said each of the 7.15 p.m. concerts were pretty much sold out.

He said he hoped each of the events managed to miss the arrival of Tropical Storm Florence.

Linda Smith, spokesman for the Daniel's Head Eco-Village, in Somerset, said their hurricane plan was waiting to be put into action if needed.

She said five guest units directly on the shoreline would be occupied tonight and provisions had been put in place to move those guests to units further away from the ocean if needed.

She added: "We are obviously going to look to see what the forecast is on Friday and, depending on how the storm is progressing, we may move guests out of those units over the water.

"There are buildings on Daniel's Head that can be used should the weather get very bad. We have a hurricane plan in place, should we need it.'' Both the Zenith and Horizon Celebrity Cruises left the Island on time yesterday, but the others remaining decided to alter their departure times.

The Norwegian Majesty left St. George's at 5 p.m. yesterday, rather than noon today, as did the Bermuda Islander container ship.

The Nordic Empress went back to New York last night, instead of going at noon today, and the Pacific Princess, which normally leaves Hamilton on Thursday and sails to Dockyard for a day, also opted to take advantage of the good weather and set off for a return trip to the US last night.

The Crown Dynasty, which usually arrives in Dockyard for the weekend on Fridays will still come to Bermuda, but may be forced to dock in Hamilton if the weather gets particularly bad.

Bearing down: Hurricane Florence, seen in this satellite image taken yesterday evening, is expected to sweep past the Island later tonight.