The Meteorological Service of Jamaica has advised the country to brace for showers this weekend as a strong tropical wave is moving closer to Jamaica.

At 5 p.m. yesterday, the weather service reported that the tropical wave was located over the central Caribbean Sea, east of Jamaica.

It said the strong tropical wave was expected to influence weather conditions this weekend.

The wave also has the potential to further strengthen within the next day or two.

Last night, as the system moved west, periods of showers, thunderstorms and gusty winds were expected to affect eastern parishes.

Today, the forecast is that the tropical wave is set to spread quickly to other parishes.

Showers could sometimes be heavy and there is potential for flash flooding in low-lying and flood-prone areas, said the Meteorological Service of Jamaica.

All marine interests, especially fishers on the quays and banks, were warned to exercise extreme caution.

The weather service also warned all interests to continue to listen to subsequent newscast as the office continues to monitor the progress of this system.

At the same time, the Meteorological Service of Jamaica said that 'Bertha' had once more developed into an hurricane.

At 4:00 p.m. yesterday, the Meteorological Service of Jamaica reported that the centre of Hurricane Bertha was located near latitude 37.6 degrees north and longitude 50.6 degrees west or about 1,035 kilometres south-southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland in Canada.

Bertha was a hurricane, downgraded to a tropical storm but has again intensified.

Bertha is moving toward the northeast near 35 km/hr and this motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days with an increase in forward speed.

Maximum sustained winds are near 120 km/hr, with higher gusts. 'Bertha' should slowly weaken over the next couple of days and begin to lose tropical characteristics late on Saturday.

Hurricane Bertha is not a threat to Jamaica.