Much of North Carolina’s Outer Banks region is under a tropical storm watch with Hurricane Erin expected to skirt the area Wednesday through Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Erin, the first hurricane of the season, is now a powerful Category 5 hurricane. Here's where it could head in the week ahead.

Hurricane Erin is expected to intensify, despite being downgraded to a category three storm as it moves towards the Bahamian Archipelago in the Caribbean. The storm became a rare category five cyclone on Saturday night, with winds up to 160mph (260km/h), but meteorologists expect it to grow in size as it develops over the next few days.

Heavy rains expected in Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands as Tropical Storm Erin nears - Tropical Storm Erin is approaching Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, bringing heavy rains that could cause flood

Swells could impact Puerto Rico this weekend as Tropical Storm Erin continues to move west It’s the equivalent of a new payroll tax or a 17% cut in the size of the military, according to a top think tank. Jordon Hudson, the current girlfriend of former NFL coach Bill Belichick, and his ex-girlfriend, Linda Holliday, attended the same fundraiser

Hurricane Erin has strengthened to a Category 4 storm as it threatens to bring life-threatening surf and rip currents to the eastern coast of the United States. The rains caused by the storm are already beginning to hit the south-eastern Bahamas, and the Turk and Caicos Islands, where a tropical storm warning is in effect.