The category two cyclone is currently around 400 miles east of Brisbane and is expected to make landfall over the next couple of days

A large swathe of Australia’s east coast is preparing for strong winds and life-threatening flooding as a tropical cyclone is forecast to make landfall around the nation’s third-largest city.

It will be the first time the south-east has been in the direct firing line of a tropical cyclone in several decades.

Brisbane is in the firing line of a cyclone for the first time in a generation, as the category 3 Alfred system, packing dangerous destructive winds and torrential rain, advances on southern Queensland’s population centres.

Significant damage and power outages are possible in the densely populated region of Queensland, where tropical cyclones impacts are not uncommon, but direct landfalls are.

Acting mayor Donna Gates says tropical cyclone Alfred "might be the most significant system" for the Gold Coast since 1954.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to hit Australia’s east coast later this week. Here's where it is likely to strike.

Millions of residents along Australia’s east coast are on high alert for the arrival of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

As tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to make landfall in Queensland later this week, councils in the state’s southeast have begun to reduce services including ferries and kerbside collection. The cyclone is currently approximately 560 kilometres off the east coast of the state,