Tropical storm Franklin forms over the Caribbean: NHC

(Reuters) - Tropical storm Franklin, the sixth named storm of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, has formed over the north-western Caribbean Sea, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Sunday. The storm, located about 380 miles (610 km) east-southeast of Chetumal, Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour (65 km/h) at present, is likely to strengthen before reaching the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula by Monday afternoon. The government of Mexico has issued a tropical storm watch for the Gulf coast of Mexico from south of Campeche to Sabancuy, the NHC said. (Reporting by Arpan Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Joseph Radford)