to Bermuda.

Erika, which was upgraded to a category two hurricane yesterday, turned north yesterday and is expected to make her closest point of approach to Bermuda on Wednesday.

The news prompted the visiting North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's fleet -- in Hamilton for a weekend visit -- to leave Bermuda a day early to avoid crossing the storm's path.

Last night Erika -- packing 90 knot winds with gusts up to 110 knots -- was upgraded to a category two storm. Hurricane force winds extended 80 to 85 miles from the centre.

And local weather forecasters said she could still "intensify'' before she makes her estimated closest point of approach some 243 nautical miles south of Bermuda at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

At that time, Erika could be packing maximum winds of 120 knots.

Forecasters expect the storm to move northwest towards Bermuda from her position last night before veering to the northeast on Tuesday morning when the storm's winds are expected to be 100 knots, with gusts up to 125 knots.

Local weather is expected to be affected by the storm later today, with winds gradually increasing to 22 to 28 knots tonight and seas increasing to up to six feet inside the reef and up to 12 feet outside.

Tomorrow, seas are expected to be five to ten feet inside the reef and ten to 15 outside, while winds are predicted to be 22 to 28 knots, increasing to 30 to 40 knots on the evening.

Last night, the hurricane was some 682 nautical miles south of Bermuda at coordinates 21 degrees north and 63.4 degrees west. She was moving north-northwest at five knots with a central pressure of 964 millibars.

To avoid difficult sailing conditions the NATO ships began departing Bermuda at noon yesterday. They were scheduled to set sail today for the Azores.

Rugby, cricket and football matches between local teams and the visiting sailors were yesterday cancelled.

A Harbour Radio spokesman said yesterday that all other shipping was keeping to its normal schedule.

Erika is the third hurricane of the Atlantic season. Hurricane Billy dispersed in the Atlantic while Hurricane Danny caused flooding in the southeastern US.