Tropical storm forms in Atlantic

Tropical Storm Zeta formed today in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, another instalment in a record-breaking hurricane season that officially ended last month.

Zeta, the 27th storm of the season, formed about 1,000 miles south-southwest of the Azores islands, according to an advisory posted on the National Hurricane centre’s website.

It posed no immediate threat to land.

The centre said it would send out a full advisory later today.

Tropical storms have winds of at least 39 mph.

It was not immediately known if December 30 was the latest date for the formation of a tropical storm in the Atlantic.

But earlier this month, Hurricane Epsilon became only the fifth hurricane to form in December in 154 years of record-keeping.

Hurricanes form when their winds exceed 74 mph.

Zeta is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet, which forecasters turned to after they used up – for the first time – their list of 21 proper names for storms.

The record for tropical storms and hurricanes in a season had been 21, set in 1933 before such storms were regularly named.