'Very blustery' days ahead for parts of Queensland

South-east Queensland residents are in for a wet and windy few days as a "very strong" high-pressure system moves in.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has forecast winds of up to 80 kilometres an hour.

Senior forecaster Felim Hanniffy said the winds would peak over the weekend, particularly in the second half of Saturday.

"The south-east will have plenty of blustery showers right from the get-go on Friday and with the showers come those winds, which will be very blustery as well," Mr Hanniffy said.

"Sixty kilometres an hour broadly along the coast and up to 80 kilometres an hour along the more exposed islands."

A strong wind warning is in place for much of the state, including the Peninsula Coast, Cooktown Coast, Cairns Coast, Townsville Coast, Mackay Coast, Sunshine Coast Waters and Gold Coast Waters.

Mr Hanniffy said the wind would also help whip up wild surf.

"We are looking at hazardous surf, even potentially damaging surf as well, and we could see a severe weather warning issued for that along the more exposed coastal fringe," he said.

"There's also potential for a coastal hazard warning, that's normally issued when we expect to see significant wave heights … in excess of four metres.

"Certainly some of the south-facing beaches could see waves in excess of that as well, so that's a big watch point."

He said the big waves would likely be from late Saturday, but the surf could "stick around" until early next week.

Mr Hannify said the conditions were the result of two weather systems combining — a "very strong" high pressure system over southern Australia and a low in the southern Coral Sea.

Falls of between 20 and 40 millimetres are expected on offshore islands, with up to 20 millimetres along the Wide Bay and the Sunshine Coast.

"The bulk of the rain will be confined to that south-east coast. Most areas will see the showers passing through pretty quickly, but they will be frequent and widespread at times."

Single-digit 'shock to the system'

Temperatures in the south-east are expected to remain steady, with cloud cover helping provide insulation for residents.

But Mr Hannify said it was a "complete contrast" further north and inland, with many areas sitting under a ridge.

"Pretty settled conditions with fine, dry days … the shower activity is just confined to that south-east coast, really," he said.

"We could see temperatures down as low as single figures, even as far north as the Atherton Tablelands as well as part of the northern interior and areas around Georgetown as well."

He said Far North Queensland residents could experience overnight lows from two to six degrees below average from today.

"It's seen a pretty benign winter in terms of those cold temps, so it's the first real decent cold surge we've seen up there in several weeks as well," the senior forecaster said.

"It's really been quite a showery but a mild winter so far for the far north — this burst of winter-esque-type weather will be a bit of a shock to the system up there."