People prepare for wild weather as meteorologists forecast Tropical Cyclone Alfred will hit Queensland later this week, with the state’s capital in its path

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to cross the south-east Queensland coast later this week, bringing significant wind, rain and coastal impacts.

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

The Australian Navy rescued a Lithuanian rower caught in tropical cyclone Alfred during his solo venture crossing the Pacific Ocean. Aurimas Mockus, a 44-year-old adventurer, was 740km off the coast of Mackay in Central Queensland when he got caught in the path of the category one cyclone with winds gusting at 130kmph.

More than 700 mm of rain could inundate parts of southeast Queensland and northeast NSW later this week as Tropical Cycl