The Bermuda Weather Service (BWS) was last night keeping a close eye on tropical storm Karen which was located some 1,144 nautical miles to the southeast of the Island, moving in a west northwesterly direction at 14 knots.

However, there is a chance that Karen, could diminish and lose its tropical storm status, meteorologist Nicole Hannon said. At last update the storm's closest point of approach was predicted to be on Friday at 12 p.m. packing wind speeds of 35 to 45 knots. "The storm is more than 1,000 miles away and it's not a threat to us at this time — mostly because the National Hurricane Center in Miami is expecting the storm to weaken," Ms Hannon added.

"It's expected to do this as it moves closer to us. It's not a threat at this time and as it progresses we'll know more."

And even if Karen remains a tropical storm when it passes by on Friday, it would be too far to cause any real adverse effects on weather conditions, the BWS pointed out.