Torrential rain in Far North Queensland which has caused flash flooding, landslips, and prompted warnings for some residents to move to higher ground is not expected to let up anytime soon.

Some parts have received more than 400mm of rain in less than 24 hours.

Residents of Douglas Shire living near the Daintree River received an alert just before midnight on Saturday warning them properties would likely be inundated by floodwaters.

The rain has caused flash flooding in low lying areas of Cairns. ( Supplied: Cassandra Piltz )

"People living in the vicinity need to take appropriate action and consider moving to higher ground where possible," the message read.

Douglas Shire Mayor Julia Leu said there had been a "tremendous" amount of rain in the last 48 hours.

"The Daintree River has exceeded the level that we knew about in 1996, which was 11.8 metres, and it has got up to 12.6," she said.

A damaged road on the way into Daintree Village. ( Supplied: David Mainwaring )

"Power at the moment is out throughout Daintree, and Ergon is waiting for it to be safe so that they can helicopter in and send more crews, and we've still got some Telstra issues as well."

"The good news is that today the forecast is for showers, but not heavy rain and … as of now the water levels are receding."

The Daintree River level is now dropping but the weather bureau said the tropical low would continue dumping heavy rain in the far north over the coming days.

Senior forecaster Gabriel Branescu said a severe weather warning had been issued for a large stretch of the coast between Cairns and the Whitsundays and the adjacent inland area.

"Heavy rainfall will continue especially over the north tropical coast and perhaps may even track south over the central coast over the coming days, so it will be a continuation of heavy falls, really wet days ahead," he said.

"The trough is causing rainfall, especially over the north tropical coast. As a result we are looking at rivers rising, so Daintree River now is major flooding, also minor and moderate flooding into the north tropical coast around Cairns."

A police officer pulls over a motorist for driving through floodwaters in Far North Queensland. ( Supplied: Queensland Police Service )

The weather bureau warned some isolated areas could get up to 250mm of rain in the space of six hours.

Flash flooding has cut a number of roads in Cairns and surrounding areas.

Superintendent Geoff Sheldon said a number of drivers had been charged after driving through flooded roads.

"We are pleading with motorists to stay off the roads if you don't need to travel but to drive sensibly if you do," Superintendent Sheldon said.

"Once a car gets washed off a bridge or creek or something like that, it's a 50-50 chance you will lose your life, and we just don't seem to be getting the message through."

BOM says the tropical low will continue dumping heavy rain in the coming days. ( Supplied: Amy Waddell )

"We're finding that the people doing this are our local people, they're the farmers that have lived here for 30 years, they're not the tourists driving around in a Wicked camper having a great time and just not knowing."

Crews work to stabilise a landslip at Rocky Point, north of Mossman. ( Supplied: Douglas Shire Council )

The State Emergency Service (SES) said on Sunday morning it had responded to 80 calls in Far North Queensland after the very heavy rain in the region.

SES North Queensland regional director Wayne Coutts said with the rain due to ease on Sunday, the workload would become more manageable.

"[There are] 20 [call-outs] since this morning that are still outstanding — probably most of those though are in the Cairns area — there's a few in Mossman but in the Cairns area there's a few little land slips and that sort of stuff out of people's back yards."

The Daintree River peaked at 12.6 metres, beating the previous record which was set in 1901. ( Supplied: Douglas Shire Council )

Floodwater covers Foxton Bridge, north of Mossman. ( Supplied: Nadia Sinkovich )