Stores Gorhams and Masters have been cleaned out of portable heaters and electric blankets as resident protected themselves against the wild winter weather.

"Everything's gone," Gorhams spokesman Andrew Mackay said yesterday.

"We've got more stock sitting on the docks waiting to come through, including kerosene, heaters and fire logs. We've been really busy."

Masters assistant manager Norman Kromer revealed sales had been equally "crazy".

"We have a couple of electric blankets left but apart from that we're completely sold out of blankets, gas, heaters and kerosene and we're not getting any more stock in," he said.

The weather systems battering the east coast of the United States have been bringing unpleasantly cold winds and rain to the Island over the last two weeks, with temperatures dipping to as low as 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

But Bermuda Weather Service spokesman Lou McNally said yesterday temperatures would be returning to normal ? although a storm brewing in the Atlantic is likely to bring gale force winds to the Island throughout the week.

"We have a big storm sitting right close to us with nowhere to go," he said.

"So while the cold has gone for a while we will be experiencing sustained winds of between 30 to 40 knots and the occasional heavy shower."