And experts at the Bermuda Weather Service expect that the sixth named storm of the season will strengthen rapidly over the next few days, possibly becoming a Category Two hurricane by the weekend.

Last night's tropical update gave Floyd's position as 1,348 nautical miles south-east of the Island. Its closest point of approach over the next 72 hours will be early on Saturday morning when it is predicted to be 701 nautical miles to the south-southeast.

Meteorologist James Buxton said computer models on Floyd gave conflicting predictions of its next movements and said that, at this early stage, it was extremely difficult to tell where Floyd would go.

"The path of this storm is still open to guesses,'' he said. "It could be affected by a deep upper trough which, depending on how strong it is, may turn the storm in a more northerly direction.'' Mr. Buxton added that Floyd's position, between the starting points of Dennis and Cindy, could be a sign of bad news.

"On the other hand'' Mr. Buxton said, "the storm could overcome its steering factors and decide on its own course.''