Storm Bret – latest update: Caribbean on alert for potential hurricane as season’s first named storm builds

Geocolor satellite image of Tropical Storm Bret shared by the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

(National Hurricane Center)

Tropical Storm Bret is gathering strength over the central Atlantic and could develop into a hurricane in the next few days, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest report, putting the Caribbean islands on alert.

“The system should be approaching the Lesser Antilles by the end of this week,” the hurricane center said in its statement.

The storm, about 1,210 miles (1,945 km) east of the southern Windward Islands, will bring maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour (65 km/h), the Miami-based weather forecaster said.

“Environmental conditions appear conducive to strengthening over the next few days, with a much warmer-than-normal ocean en route to the depression, along with abundant mean humidity and mild shear,” the center said.

The storm is a concern in the Caribbean with a potential threat to the Leeward or Leeward Islands later this week.

Lying where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic, the Leeward Islands include the Virgin Islands, Saint Martin, and Antigua and Barbuda. To the south are the Windward Islands: Dominica, Grenada, Martinique and others.