BERMUDA has been one of the locations worst affected by hurricanes in the region

Statistics published by the hurricanecity.com web site, based on the frequency of visits by hurricanes and tropical storms over the past 134 years, rank the island as seventh most affected out of 152 locations.

The list covers cities and islands in the US, the Caribbean and Mexico and it shows that Bermuda gets affected during hurricane season every 2.57 years on average.

The statistics take into account not only direct hits, but also "brushes", that is when a storm that passes within 60 miles. "Hits" by hurricanes, classified as when the centre of the storm system passes within 40 miles happen here every 11.16 years, according to the site.

The top four spots for hurricane action were Grand Cayman, Andros Island (Bahamas), Grand Bahama Island and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

The hurricane season started this week and the latest updated forecasts expect it to be one of the most active on record.

Hurricane expert Dr. William Gray has predicted 15 named storms this summer, with eight of those becoming hurricanes.

Where those hurricanes make landfall will depend heavily on the strength of the Bermuda High ? an area of high pressure that tends to sit over the western Atlantic ? this summer.

Last year the Bermuda High was strong for much of the time and hurricanes forming to the south tended to steer around the bottom and pushed from east to west, across the Caribbean and towards the US.

Partly as a result of that, Bermuda escaped major storm activity until Tropical Storm Nicole passed to our north and brushed the island with 45 mph winds.