India, April 9 -- Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila has intensified into a category four storm, currently located in the Solomon Sea. Maila is slowly moving towards the west and is expected to weaken in the coming days.

According to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, the cyclone is expected to hit parts of Australia's far northern Queensland early next week.

While the cyclone was over the Solomon Sea for the last few weeks, it has begun to move towards the west in the last couple of hours. It is moving with sustained winds near the centre of around 165 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 230 kilometres per hour.

The cyclone is likely to impact communities around the Solomon Islands and the far south parts of Papua New Guinea. Over the w...