Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Hurricane Gabrielle was barreling toward the Azores early Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center, which warned the autonomous region of Portugal to brace for impacts.

The eye of the storm was located about 760 miles west of the Azores, the NHC said in its 6 a.m. GMT Thursday update.

It was moving east at a blistering 31 mph and had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, a significant decrease from Tuesday when it was a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. As of Thursday morning, it was a Category 1 hurricane.

The government of Portugal had issued a hurricane watch for all of the Azores, due to Gabrielle on Tuesday, but upgraded it to a warning on Wednesday and which remains in place

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