The second named storm[a] of the very active 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, Bret developed from a tropical wave that moved away from the coast of West Africa and formed east of Barbados on June 19.

As it entered the Windward Islands, hurricane hunters found that Bret had sustained winds of 70 mph (110 km/h) and a central pressure of 996 mbar (29.4 inHg).

On June 15, the NHC started to monitor a tropical wave that was about to move off the coast of West Africa into the Atlantic Ocean.

[1] The disturbance became better organized due to warm sea surface temperatures and favorable atmospheric conditions as it drifted westward towards the Caribbean.

Hurricane hunters investigated Bret early on June 22 and found sustained winds of 70 mph (110 km/h) and a central pressure of 996 mbar (29.4 inHg).

Next, during the early hours of June 24, Bret passed just to the north of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao as a weakening storm with an exposed low-level center, and soon opened into a trough near the Guajira Peninsula of Colombia.

[13] Along the Caribbean coast of Venezuela, small fishing boats were prohibited from leaving the country due to stormy conditions.

[22][23] In Martinique, four people were hospitalized after their catamaran sank during the storm, while in Saint Lucia, one house was completely swept away and others were severely damaged.