Ex-tropical cyclone Alfred lingered off the south-east Australian coast on Saturday and forecasters said Brisbane is likely to miss the worst of the storm, a relief for millions of residents in the region who have been staying indoors.

After days hovering off the coast as a category 2 tropical cyclone and battering a 400-kilometre (250-mile) stretch of coastline, Alfred weakened into a tropical depression before making landfall on Saturday evening.

Cyclone Alfred - which has been downgraded from a cyclone to a tropical low - has caused flooding, damage to buildings and left thousands without power across the eastern coast of Australia. Millions of people across Queensland and north New South Wales have been affected.