Tropical Storm Leslie headed on a northward track towards Canada’s Newfoundland early today, after its outer bands buffeted Bermuda with a day of gusty winds and rain.

Tropical Storm Lee dumped more than a foot of rain in New Orleans and spun off tornadoes elsewhere as its centre came ashore in a slow crawl north that raised fears of inland flash flooding in America’s Deep South and beyond.

Residents of Bermuda were today hauling their boats on to beaches and shuttering their homes as Tropical Storm Gert nears the archipelago.

Hurricane warnings went out across a large part of the Caribbean today as a major storm grew in force.

Forecasters say Tropical Storm Bertha likely will become the Atlantic season’s first hurricane today.