Weather experts last night warned that Hurricane Florence is set to hit Bermuda at lunchtime today.

And the tropical storm has been upgraded to minimal hurricane strength, bringing sustained winds of 65 knots gusting up to 75 from the south-southwest at about midday.

People were being warned to take their usual hurricane precautions and stay at home or indoors where ever possible.

A spokesman for the Bermuda Weather Service said last night: "The latest hurricane recon-flight information has revealed hurricane force winds within Florence.

"Therefore, Florence has been upgraded to minimal hurricane strength.'' Yesterday evening, the weather service reported that at noon today Florence would be located about 45 nautical miles northwest of Bermuda.

It is set to brush across the west end of the Island, causing possible destruction as it goes.

Government issued a warning, urging everyone to be alert and not to be complacent.

And the Government's Emergency Measures Organisation and the Bermuda Weather Service are on weather watch.

British Airways last night said its London-to-Bermuda flight may be delayed this evening, causing its outward journey to also be late, and asked passengers to keep in contact with the airline before setting off for the airport.

And three US Airways flights due in to Bermuda this afternoon from Philadelphia, New York and North Carolina may also be delayed.

But as of last night, US Airways had not made any definite plans and had not been updated on the weather situation.

Whether or not the Jazz Festival concert will be able to go ahead tonight, remains to be seen.

But people who turned up to last night's concert were hit by showers half way through the event.

Department of Tourism spokesman Charles Webb said yesterday that the Jazz Festival would go on, "come wind, rain or shine''.

He said it would only be an Act of God that would prevent it from going ahead as planned, but that was when Florence was earmarked as a tropical storm.

A spokesman for Harbour Radio said yesterday that all offshore vessels were already in and said he doubted the Island's ferry service would be running today.

He said the Marine and Ports Authority would make a final decision this morning.

All of the cruise ships set to leave the Island on Thursday night and yesterday left early in order to make it back across the Atlantic before the onslaught of bad weather.

Florence threatens However, the Crown Dynasty arrived in Bermuda yesterday as usual for her weekend stay, but opted to dock in Hamilton rather than Dockyard, because of the extra shelter.

At Daniel's Head Eco Village in Somerset, guests staying in apartments over the water are expected to be moved out to units further away from the shoreline as part of its hurricane plan.

It also has a large building on the site should people need to take shelter.

The fire service last night said they were putting their usual hurricane procedures in place and were likely to have additional firefighters on standby should they be needed.

Nobody from Belco was available to comment on the company's contingency plan last as of press time last night.