Is there a cyclone coming to Brisbane?

A tropical cyclone is brewing off north Queensland, but the weather bureau has gone to lengths to point out that it is far off the coast.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred formed on Sunday night, prompting concerns from residents up and down the Queensland coast, but the Bureau of Meteorology said it remained well offshore.

On Monday morning Alfred was slowly intensifying about 900 kilometres east of Cairns, sitting as a category 1 in the Coral Sea.

Favourable warm ocean conditions could increase it to a category 2 before it intensified again to a category 3 on Tuesday.

Over the next few days, Alfred could move slowly south-east while staying several hundred kilometres off the Queensland coast.

During this time, it might influence the weather on the east coast with stiff southeasterly winds and a few passing showers.

“Strong winds will make for choppy conditions as well as sizeable swell over the Queensland coastal waters throughout the week,” meteorologist Angus Hines said.

There were still a few possibilities where Alfred could move at the end of the week, with the potential for it to veer back towards the central or southern Queensland coast.

That would greatly increase the risk of severe weather for parts of the east coast.

However, Hines said it was too early to say which parts of the coast would be impacted or how strong the wind and rain would be.

“The key message through the first half of this week for people in Queensland is to keep a watch of the forecast track maps for Tropical Cyclone Alfred in the coming days,” he said.

In its cyclone bulletin on Monday morning the bureau said the cyclone was moving east at 7km/h.

“Tropical Cyclone Alfred is strengthening as it moves slowly eastwards in the Coral Sea, well offshore of the north Queensland coast,” the bulletin read.

“On Tuesday, Alfred is forecast to turn south-east and then south while continuing to intensify into the middle of the week. From Thursday, the confidence in the track decreases, with the most likely scenario taking Alfred further south through the Coral Sea and remaining well offshore from the Queensland coast. ”

Residents of the state’s north tropical coast have been recovering from the impacts of a low that brought weeks of heavy rain and flooding, with two lives lost and hundreds of homes evacuated.

Mostly sunny days have been forecast for Brisbane this week. The temperature was expected to top out at 31 degrees on Monday, with just the chance of a shower.

AAP, with Marissa Calligeros

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.