The likelihood of Tropical Cyclone Alfred making landfall on the Queensland coast is decreasing after it briefly intensified to a category four.

It briefly strengthened to a category four overnight, but has since been downgraded to a category three.

The cyclone is currently around 750km north-east of Mackay and has wind gusts of 220km/h at its center.

Alfred is forecast to continue moving south over the Coral Sea at a speed of 9km/h, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

It is expected to be downgraded to a category two by Saturday, moving south-west towards the Queensland coast before turning south-east on Sunday and tracking parallel to Capricornia’s coast, away from land.

Alfred is creating harsh coastal conditions from Townsville south to K’Gari Island, leading to warnings for gale force winds on the Great Barrier Reef and strong wind warnings for the Queensland coast.

There is also a warning for hazardous surf between Yeppoon and Hervey Bay, with the cyclone causing windy foreshores and powerful swells up to three meters.

These conditions are expected to extend to the Sunshine and Gold coasts over the weekend.

Showers will become more frequent along the coast as Alfred moves closer, but significant rainfall is not forecast.

The Bureau is becoming more confident that Alfred will remain offshore and landfall is increasingly unlikely.

“It will become slow moving over the open water and, even in the middle of next week, it is still forecast to be a category two system, but well off the south-east Queensland coast,” said meteorologist Jonathan How.

“There is still a range of possibilities with regards to its exact movement and just how close it will come to the coast, and this will depend on a number of factors, including how the cycle interacts with other systems in our region.”