Tropical Storm Erin will not pose a threat to Bermuda in the next 72 hours, the Bermuda Weather Service said at noon today as the storm continued a westerly track.

At noon, the storm had slowed down from 14 knots on Tuesday to ten knots and was moving west. The storm, with maximum sustained winds of 40 knits and gsusts of 50 knots, was at 17.2 degrees north and 54.1 degrees west - approximately 925 nautical miles south-southeast of Bermuda.

Its closest point of approach to the Island, within 72 hours, is expected to be at 9 a.m. on Saturday when it will be 590 nautical miles to the south, said the weather service.

The storm measures 115 miles from the centre.

"Erin is poorly organised," said the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami, Florida on Tuesday night.

A US Air Force plane was expected in the area of the storm this morning.

But local meteorologists and the US Hurricane Centre said errors may be "large".

A spokesman for the Bermuda Weather Service said: "There is a ridge of high pressure to the north that's giving (Erin) it's westward push."

He said a new trough, expected to roll into the area soon, may cause the storm to change direction.

In order for Tropical Storm Erin to be classified as a hurricane, it needs to have sustained winds of 65 knots, said the spokesman.

He said: "Just check where the storm shutters are, if you haven't seen them for a few months."