Severe cyclone maila intensifies as australia braces for landfall

A category five storm, Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila, has intensified over the Solomon Sea, days before an expected landfall in Australia's far north Queensland coast.

Maila set to make landfall, following narelle's footsteps

Forecast to hit the Cape York Peninsula early next week, Maila's more intense pressure suggests greater storm strength than the previous system, Narelle, which made landfall as a category four storm just weeks ago.

BoM senior meteorologist Ilana Cherny said the storm would start to weaken as it moves southwest towards Australia, but there's still uncertainty about its strength approaching the coast.

Communities in Queensland could start experiencing impacts from the weekend, including heavy rain, flood risk in already saturated catchments, strong winds and hazardous surf, Cherny warned.

Maila is the seventh severe cyclone this Australian season, with most of them making landfall. This season has already seen Tropical Cyclone Koji downgraded to a tropical low and Narelle, which made landfall in three states and territories.

Meanwhile, vaianu targets new zealand

Another major storm system, Severe Tropical Cyclone Vaianu, is expected to make landfall in New Zealand around the same time as Maila, according to the New Zealand MetService.

Most tracking models have the system crashing into New Zealand's North Island on the weekend, with the MetService warning of