Atlantic hurricane season starts late as Danielle becomes first named tempest

Hurricane is about 885 miles west of Azores in mid-Atlantic in what has so far been an unusually quiet season for storms

Tropical storm Danielle has strengthened into the first hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic Ocean season for such tempests, the US national hurricane center said on Friday.

The hurricane, now about 885 miles west of the Azores in the mid-Atlantic, is packing maximum sustained winds of 75mph (120km/h) and was forecast to meander over the open sea during the next couple of days, the Miami-based federal weather forecasting center noted.