from a hurricane to a tropical storm.

Last night the closest point of approach was forecast to be just 99 nautical miles northwest of Bermuda at 3 p.m. tomorrow.

Weather Service spokesman Ken Smith said: "At this point in time it is a threat to Bermuda. We may issue a tropical storm watch tomorrow morning.

"It is stationery with maximum winds of 60 knots gusting to 75.'' Mr. Smith predicted Bermuda would be hit with wind, high seas and thunderstorms.

And Florence, which is being blamed for at least two deaths in North Carolina, could regenerate into a hurricane when it stops spinning in place off the southeast United States and moves east over warmer waters, forecasters said.

At 6 p.m. last night it was 478 nautical miles west of Bermuda but appeared set for a northeasterly course after 3 p.m. tomorrow.

"Over the last couple of days it's been mostly stationary, which has brought some of the cooler water to the surface, which has caused its weakening,'' said Eric Blake, at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The storm was forecast to move to the northeast and away from the US mainland in the next two days.

Tropical storm or hurricane watches could be posted by today for Bermuda, Blake said.

At 5 p.m., Florence, the sixth named storm of the 2000 Atlantic hurricane season, was 345 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C.