Millions of Queenslanders have been warned to be on alert as a severe tropical cyclone approaches the coastline.
The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed on Monday morning that Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila is expected to move towards the Far North Queensland coast later this week after strengthening over the Solomon Sea.
'The steering influences are balanced and Maila is expected to be slow-moving over the Solomon Sea before moving west-southwest by Thursday,' the BoM said in a statement.
'Maila is expected to remain well away from the Queensland coast during the next few days, but confidence is increasing in Maila moving towards the Far North Queensland coast later in the week, potentially crossing the coast on the weekend.'
According to the BoM, Maila is currently a category three cyclone, with sustained winds near the centre of 130 kilometres per hour, and wind gusts of up to 185 kilometres per hour, carrying the risk of intense rain and potential flooding.
BoM senior forecaster Baden Gilbert said the cyclone could have a greater impact than Cyclone Narelle, which battered communities across Far North Queensland as a category four system last month.
'Narelle was a bit of a smaller system so it was very destructive, and their area of gales was smaller,' he said.
'This (Maila) system is looking a bit more normal-sized compared to historical averages - so for that reason, the area of gales could be a bit larger, which could mean more people are affected by those damaging winds.'
Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila is expected to make landfall later this week after strengthening over the Solomon Sea.
It comes weeks after communities in Queensland's Far North were battered by Cyclone Narelle.
He added: 'When we talk about the winds of these kinds of weather systems, they do bring significant rainfall - or tend to bring significant rainfall when they cross the coast and move across land.'
However, forecasters are yet to pinpoint its landfall with vast swathes of the state's Far North having now been issued with alerts.
'There is currently a lot of uncertainty amongst weather models on whether a tropical cyclone could be impacting Queensland through the next seven to 10 days,' Sky News meteorologist Tamsin Green said.
'It could be staying towards the west and skirting up towards the north of the Cape York Peninsula, staying out at sea. Or it could make an NT landfall, or even be skirting towards the east, and just staying out in the Coral Sea.'
'So, certainly this is one to watch out for as a lot could change over the next few days.'
The BoM is expected to issue the next forecast of Cyclone Maila's track at 5pm (AEST) on Monday.
If Maila does make landfall this weekend, it will mark the second cyclone to cross the Queensland coast in three weeks - the shortest gap between direct strikes for the state since Anthony and Yasi in early 2011.
The system could potentially be the 11th cyclone of the season, close to average, but late in Australia's tropical cyclone season, which runs until the end of April.
The BoM is expected to issue the next forecast of Cyclone Maila's track at 5pm on Monday.
It is also possible that the system follows the path of Cyclone Narelle where clean-up and repair efforts continue.
Narelle is only the third storm in recorded history to make landfall as a cyclone in three Australian jurisdictions, joining Ingrid (2005) and Steve (2000).
It first made landfall in Far North Queensland, before crossing into the Northern Territory and then into Western Australia.