Hurricane José rose to Category 4 yesterday morning, but the Bermuda Weather Service said it was still not a threat to the island “at this time”.

The storm’s closest point of approach in the next 72 hours was expected to be 476 nautical miles to the island’s south-southwest, at 6pm on Monday according to the BWS 6pm update.

But forecasters warned the storm could come closer after that time.

The service’s long-term forecast said José “might have become a potential threat” by Monday or Tuesday although the storm is expected to weaken by then.

But it added that forecast models still show a variety of possibilites, especially for the exact track of José in the long range.

The American-based National Hurricane Centre said the storm reached Category 3 strength yesterday afternoon which made it the third major hurricane of the season.

In a subsequent update at 11am yesterday morning, the NHC said the “extremely dangerous” storm had reached Category 4.

José at 6pm last night was about 1,006 nautical miles south-southeast of Bermuda and headed west-northwest at 18mph with maximum sustained winds of 150mph and higher gusts.