There are warnings of huge seas and hurricane-force winds as Tropical Cyclone Gita heads towards the south of Vanuatu, with storm remnants likely to eventually cross New Zealand.
MetService meteorologist Stephen Glassey said it looked as if Gita would track to the south of both Vanuatu and New Caledonia.
“At the moment it's southwest of Fiji and tracking west-south-west,” he said, shortly after 5.30am Thursday.
“I think the southern islands of Vanuatu will get some strong winds and some large waves but we're not expecting it to be anywhere near as extreme as Tonga got.”
Fiji's meteorological service said a warning of hurricane-force winds was in force for Conway reef, to the country's southwest, and a strong wind warning for Fiji's waters.
The very southern tip of New Caledonia would probably also see some strong winds and big seas.
Vanuatu's Meteorology and Geohazards Department had issued a severe weather warning of heavy rain and isolated heavy falls for Tafea, the country's southernmost province.
People were advised for possible flooding and landslides over low level areas, it said.
Gita was expected to start tracking southeastward at some point. Models were indicating its remnants were likely to cross the North Island from west to east, probably on Tuesday.
“In terms of the impact, it's too early to say exactly where and when we will get the heaviest rain and strongest gales,” Glassey said