The public was warned to follow weather updates as gale force winds and cold weather are likely this afternoon and overnight.

At 1.52pm today, the number of Belco customers without power had fallen to 12 customers scattered across the island, down from more than 500 at 3pm yesterday. Shortly after noon, Belco reported more than 1,600 customers had lost electricity — with about a third of them in Devonshire.

Air Canada cancelled its flight from Toronto last night while the American Airlines flight yesterday morning from JFK airport in New York was reportedly diverted, and LF Wade International Airport showed several delays.

So far today, all flights are due to take place, according to the Bermuda airport website.

The ferry service is also cancelled and its reopening is being monitored.

The Bermuda Weather Service’s 6am forecast said improved conditions this morning are expcted to worsen this afternoon as another low brings substantial shower activity and gales.

These may intensify to storm force later this evening into tomorrow morning, the BWS said.

Temperatures are also expected to drop to around 52 degrees Fahrenheit overnight and to fall to another low of 50 tomorrow. The high today is predicted to be 64, falling to 55 tomorrow.

Sustained winds overnight could reach as high as 57mph with gusts to 69mph, making it still possible the Causeway could be closed tonight.

Phil Rogers, the director of the Bermuda Weather Service, said yesterday a decision to close the Causeway would not be made until this morning.

Mr Rogers said: “A big thing about this storm that’s forming is that we’re going to have gales all day Sunday.

“It’s not going to improve much — it’ll be a very, very slow improvement of winds over Sunday.”

He added: “The other downside of Sunday is that, because it’s such a big storm, it’s going to grab that cold air and we’re going to get to very cold temperatures for Bermuda on Sunday. Probably mid-50s on Sunday.”

The BWS issued a severe weather warning, with sustained gusts expected near 60mph last night.

The BWS added that “increasingly hazardous” southwesterly swells would develop as a powerful low-pressure system passes to the north of the island.

Mr Rogers said the system could come “very close” to storm-force winds and that the Government’s Emergency Measures Organisation has been alerted.

He said that the Causeway could be closed if wind speeds reached 50 knots (just under 60mph).

Mr Rogers explained that the most up-to-date models suggested wind speeds were “near 50 knots”, but added: “It’s really better that we look at it in the morning with the updated models.”

Mr Rogers said that weather this ferocious was “historically” normal around this time of year, albeit not frequent.

He explained that a “big pool of cold air” from the North American East Cast combined with the warm air of the Atlantic Ocean, leading to storms that impacted the island.

Mr Rogers said: “We’ve had a period of significantly severe storms in the winter, so I think it’s fallen out of Bermudians’ memories when we used to deal with these.

“So it’s not abnormal, it’s just going back to a period when it was a little bit more normal — say maybe 15-20 years ago when we were getting more regular winter storms.”

Mr Rogers said that the eastern seaboard of North America is expected to slowly warm up starting next week and thus lessen the driving force that formed storms.

In the meantime, the public should “stay inside and watch some TV” tomorrow.

The Department Marine and Ports said ferry routes would be closely monitored to determine when services can resume and urged the public to call the ferry terminal on 295-4506 or visit www.marineandports.bm for more information.

Belco’s managing director Shelly Leman urged the public to remain vigilant as local weather forecasts placed the island under a gale warning with wet and windy conditions expected throughout the weekend.

She said that Belco teams were out working to restore power and told customers to notify the utility of any emergencies, such as pole fires or sparking downed lines, through the reporting line 955.

Ms Leman added: “I urge residents to secure their properties and remove or tie down all loose items in yards — including furniture, toys, trash cans and gardening equipment — that could become airborne projectiles during high winds and potentially contact Belco’s overhead wires.

“As an example, last weekend, an unsecured trampoline became airborne and caused a prolonged outage impacting customers in the Dolly’s Bay area of St David’s due to the damage sustained to overhead infrastructure.

“Customers are also reminded to unplug sensitive equipment and electronics if affected by a power outage.”

Ms Leman told drivers not to go around cones or barricades on the roads, since they are in place to signal working zones to protect the public and Belco crews from hazardous conditions.