(Reuters) - Hurricane Gert, the second of the 2017 Atlantic season, strengthened slightly on Wednesday as it accelerated through the Atlantic Ocean in a northeasterly direction, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Gert, located about 330 miles (530 km) northwest of Bermuda, was packing maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour (150 km/h) and moving at about 21 miles per hour (33 kph).

It is expected to strengthen further during the day as it heads across the northern Atlantic then weaken and become an extratropical low by Thursday night, the NHC said.