Australia's east coast has been pounded by rain, wind and surf for a week, with Brisbane recording its highest daily rainfall in half a century.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred has spent the night creeping towards Queensland’s coast and northern NSW. Despite authorities downgrading the cyclone to a tropical low early Saturday morning, locals have been warned not to be complacent with serious flooding risk remaining despite wind speeds slowing down.

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.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred's approach was coloured by slow, suspenseful movement. Here's how the weather event and emergency response unfolded.

South East Queensland and northern NSW continue to experience rain and flooding in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. Follow our ongoing coverage.

This is the sting in Alfred’s tail. These storms are drawing down very warm, moist air from the Coral Sea in the north. If you happen to be under one of these slow-moving thunderstorms, they are getting ready to dump a lot of rain. The situation is very volatile, as the atmosphere is very unstable.

A slow-moving tropical storm crossed islands off Australia’s heavily populated eastern coast late Friday, lashing coastal suburbs with destructive winds and dumping heavy rain across the region.

Ex-tropical cyclone Alfred has officially reached the mainland in Queensland's south-east bringing with it intense winds and fears of flooding.