Tropical Storm Alex forms in Atlantic

Rain from Tropical Storm Alex floods the Brickell area near central Miami (Pedro Portal/Miami Herald/AP)

Tropical Storm Alex, the first named storm of the hurricane season, formed in the Atlantic on Sunday morning on a track to come ashore in southern Florida with heavy rain and gusty winds.

National Hurricane Centre forecasters said in an advisory at 5am local time that Alex had sustained winds of 50mph (80kph) and was located about 270 miles (435km) north-east of Fort Pierce, Florida.