A tropical storm churning towards the Gulf of Mexico was yesterday upgraded to hurricane status, equalling the record for the most hurricanes recorded during an Atlantic storm season.

Forecasters said Wilma was likely to spare the central part of the US Gulf coast and its oil industry, which has already been struck three times this year by Katrina, Rita and Dennis. But they warned it could threaten Florida by the weekend after passing between Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and Cuba.