Tropical Storm Chantal is bearing down on the Caribbean and could possibly be heading for Florida by early next week.

The storm is 470 miles east-southeast of Barbados and the speed of the storm is likely to hamper further storm development. However, once the storm reaches the warm water of the eastern and central Caribbean, there is a real likelihood of the storm reaching Category 1 hurricane status.

However, there are disruptive winds near Cuba that could break up the storm before it makes landfall in Cuba.

Even if the tropical storm breaks up before reaching Florida, it could cause strong thunderstorms and flooding across parts of the Florida peninsula.