Hurricane Nate headed toward the central Gulf of Mexico on Saturday and was expected to strengthen and make landfall along the U.S. central Gulf Coast later during the day, the National Hurricane Center said.

The Category 1 hurricane was about 420 miles (675 km) south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kmh) early on Saturday, the centre said.

The centre of Nate was expected to move across the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday and make landfall later in the day, the centre said.

The storm will move towards the north on Saturday night and then turn north-northeast on Sunday, the hurricane centre predicted.