Millions of residents along Australia’s eastern coast are bracing for the arrival of a very slow-moving storm, the most southerly tropical cyclone to threaten the region in more than 50 years.

Australia braced for a rare east coast tropical cyclone that is swirling towards Brisbane, its third-most populous city, with authorities urging residents in flood-prone suburbs to evacuate soon.

Cyclone Alfred is set to bring damaging winds and heavy rain to Australia's east coast when it makes landfall as a category 2 storm later this week. It's the first cyclone to hit the region in since Cyclone Zoe in 1974.