Emergency services are on standby with flash-flooding and powerful wind gusts expected to hit south-east Queensland from today.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said a trough was moving faster than expected, slightly reducing the threat of heavy intense rainfall from Fraser Island to Brisbane's northside.

A severe weather warning is in place from the Fraser coast to the border. ( Supplied: BoM )

The latest BoM severe weather warning said the heavy rain should start to contract south-east on Saturday morning, easing around Brisbane from mid-afternoon, and easing around the Gold Coast during Saturday evening.

But the bureau warned drenching falls and damaging winds were still set to lash areas from Brisbane's CBD and southern suburbs through to the Gold Coast.

The Gold Coast City Council said it planned to close all beaches tomorrow and swift water rescue teams would be deployed to potential trouble spots.

Council infrastructure director Alton Twine said machinery would be ready to deal with any erosion at Palm Beach, Coolangatta, and Narrowneck beaches.

"A lot of it is dependent on the angle of the waves when they come in," he said.

"If they come in fairly perpendicular to the beach it actually doesn't scarp too badly. If it comes in at an angle it can do some minor scarping."

The developing east coast low could bring falls of up to 150 millimetres in inland areas and in excess of 250 millimetres around the coast, while wind speeds along the coast could reach damaging gales of 90 kilometres per hour.

Senior forecaster Michael Knepp said extreme conditions were expected to hit on Saturday morning and there was a real risk of flash flooding.

"The threat of heavy intense rainfall has diminished a little but but the threat is still there," he said.

BoM weather services manager Dr Richard Wardle urged the public to take the event very seriously.

He said the system would intensify on Saturday, bringing rainfall of more than 250 millimetres to coastal areas by the afternoon.

Emergency crews are on alert across the region and 40,000 sandbags have been made available at four depots in Brisbane.

Similar to the event on May 1 last year, there are conditions for significant weather, but the exact locations cannot be identified or pinpointed until a low forms.

"Last year ... we had places like Maroochydore received hardly anything, whereas the folks around Caboolture got over 300 millimetres and over 100 millimetres in an hour," Dr Wardle said.

"And all those ranges down to the border of New South Wales, particularly all coastal locations to the east of those ranges, will get the rainfall."

Storm clouds brew above the Brisbane River. ( ABC News: Shelley Lloyd )

Deputy Queensland Fire Commissioner Mark Roche urged the public to brace for wild conditions.

He said he did not want his officers placed in danger by drivers who ignored warnings about flooded roads.

"Be prepared and understand that this is a severe weather event and we would like to see people on Monday morning talking about the rain, not necessarily talking about loved ones who may have lost their lives," Mr Roche said.

Wet and wild conditions are also expected along the New South Wales coast this weekend, with BoM issuing a gale warning for the coast from Byron Bay in the north to the Illawarra and Batemans Bay on the state's south coast.

No plans for dam releases: SEQ Water

Liz Kearins form SEQ Water told 612 ABC Brisbane there were currently no planned releases from Wivenhoe or Somerset dams.

Prefilled sandbags available in Brisbane at: Darra - South Depot, 38 Shamrock Road

Darra - South Depot, 38 Shamrock Road Morningside - Balmoral Depot, 9 Redfern Street

Morningside - Balmoral Depot, 9 Redfern Street Newmarket - SES Depot, 66 Wilston Road

Newmarket - SES Depot, 66 Wilston Road Zillmere- North Depot, 33 Jennings Street

"We're on a watching brief at the moment to see how the forecast continues to unfold," she said.

"Wivenhoe will have releases if it reaches 90 per cent, Somerset if it reaches 80 per cent and North Pine dam should it reach 90 per cent."

She said each dam had a flood storage compartment above the water supply compartment and all of those compartments were fully available.

"When these compartments reach the top of the water supply capacity, that's when we make releases," she said.