US Hurricane Center sees 80% chance of cyclone near Lesser and Greater Antilles

(Reuters) -A tropical disturbance located roughly midway between the Cape Verde Islands and the Lesser Antilles has an 80% chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Sunday.

The NHC issued a tropical storm watch for the Leeward Islands on Sunday, and said the disturbance is expected to move across portions of the Leeward Islands on Tuesday.

The potential tropical cyclone is about 950 miles (1,529 km) east-southeast of Antigua, has maximum sustained winds of 30 mph (45 kmh), and is expected to become a tropical storm by late Monday, according to the U.S.-based forecaster.

"The system could approach portions of the Greater Antilles by the middle of the week," the Miami-based forecaster said earlier.

The disturbance is expected to approach the U.S. and British Virgin Islands on Tuesday night, according to the NHC.

(Reporting by Chandni Shah, Devika Nair and Rishabh Jaiswal in BengaluruEditing by Matthew Lewis)