A developing tropical storm in the central Atlantic is set to be called Dolly under long-established naming rules, prompting the US National Hurricane Center to stress that the timing is unrelated to Dolly Parton’s recent death. The clarification matters because some fans had interpreted the name as potentially insensitive, despite storm names being selected from predetermined rotating lists.

The storm is moving towards the Lesser Antilles but is not expected to become a hurricane, with winds forecast to reach about 45mph before it dissipates by Monday. Dolly has appeared in Atlantic storm-name rotations since 1953, replaced Diana after the 1990 season and was first used for a storm in 1996; names are generally retired only after exceptionally destructive storms, such as Andrew or Katrina.