Cyclone shelters are opened for people in Borroloola and Numbulwar as Tropical Cyclone Owen strengthens and has the potential to reach a Category 3 system by early tomorrow morning.

The tropical cyclone is currently on the north-east Northern Territory coast between Port Roper and Port McArthur, just west of Bing Bong, and may reach category four intensity before crossing the Queensland coast tomorrow.

Ex-tropical cyclone Owen could reform later in the week, bringing heavy rain to parts of Queensland after the system crossed the coast at Port Douglas early today bringing winds up to 100 kilometres per hour and dumping hundreds of millimetres of rain.

Rare event will create thunderstorms from Queensland to Tasmania

Destructive winds, possible flooding and wild weather is expected to batter much of Queensland over the coming days as the weather bureau predicts severe Tropical Cyclone Owen will intensify into a category four system today.

Heavy rain, destructive winds and hail are set to pummel much of the eastern seaboard in the coming days, with the Bureau of Meteorology issuing severe weather warnings in several states.