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Satellite image of Cyclone Tomas and Cyclone Ului - Source: Reuters
Swells of up to four metres could pound Queensland's coastline as a severe cyclone edges closer.
Tropical Cyclone Ului poses no immediate threat to the Queensland coast as it hovers in the Coral Sea, about 1,310km northeast of Mackay.
The category four cyclone is moving slowly west-south-west and is expected to remain well offshore for the next few days.
It is expected to adopt a more southerly to southeasterly track night but the Bureau of Meteorology says it is possible Ului could move closer to Queensland at the end of the week.
If it does, huge swells of up to four metres could batter the state's coastline, forecaster Rick Threlfall says.
"We are expecting the cyclone to get closer to the coast by the end of the week or at the weekend," Threlfall says.
"It's likely most of the Queensland coast will see dangerous swell conditions (by the weekend)."
Huge swells could interfere with the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships at Kurrawa Beach on the Gold Coast.
Gold Coast's chief lifeguard Warren Young says the current swells of about two metres were manageable.
"If the cyclone keeps coming down towards the coast we can expect four-metre waves and obviously we'll have to close some beaches," Young says.
"We're monitoring the situation."
Cyclone Ului and a high pressure system in the Tasman Sea have been creating rough seas for boaties with three to four-metre swells in open waters off Queensland's coast.
