Hurricane Sandy was downgraded yesterday but remained highly menacing as it pulled away from the Bahamas, making a path to the US northeast coast where it threatens to become one of the worst storms in decades.

The late-season storm has been dubbed "Frankenstorm" by some weather watchers as it will combine elements of a tropical cyclone and a winter storm, and is forecast to reach the US close to Halloween.

Forecast models show it will have the ingredients to morph into a "super storm", stirring memories of the 1993 Storm of the Century.