Elsa weakens to tropical storm as it threatens Florida coast

Pedestrians dash across the intersection of Greene and Duval streets in Key West (The Key West Citizen/AP)

Elsa has weakened to a tropical storm as it threatened Florida’s northern Gulf Coast after raking past the Tampa Bay region with strong winds and heavy rain.

State governor Ron DeSantis the storm was forecast to come ashore sometime between 8am and 9am on Wednesday (1pm and 2pm BST).