Hurricane Ophelia leaps to category 3

Hurricane Ophelia, churning off the coast of Bermuda, gathered strength Friday, becoming a category 3 storm packing winds of some 185km an hour, US weather experts said.

Ophelia is now the fourth hurricane and the third "major hurricane" of the Atlantic season, which lasts until the end of the November, but is not expected to make landfall, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.

It said in a statement, however, that tropical storm force winds could lash Bermuda late Saturday and warned "large swells created by Ophelia will cause hazardous surf conditions along the south shore beaches."

Forecasters say Hurricane Ophelia is expected to pass east of Bermuda. Early Saturday morning, Ophelia had maximum sustained winds near 120 mph (193 kph).

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the center of Ophelia was about 620km south-southeast of Bermuda, and was moving north at about 17 mph (27 kph). It was expected to speed up and pass east of Bermuda late Saturday.

Earlier, Ophelia caused flooding and cut off communities on Dominica.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Philippe remained far from land in the Atlantic.

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