Cyclone warning issued for Australia's Northern Territory

Residents in Australia's Northern Territory have been warned to prepare for an expected cyclone.

A slow-moving tropical storm is gathering strength in the Arafura Sea between Australia and Indonesia.

It is likely to become a cyclone on Tuesday before possibly intensifying into a category two system, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said.

Small island and coastal communities have been warned to prepare for heavy rain, gale-force winds and storm tides.

"The centre of the system is likely to cross the western Tiwi Islands sometime later on Tuesday afternoon," forecaster Craig Earl-Spurr told the NT News.

If the weather system develops as predicted, it will be named Cyclone Frances.

Authorities warned people to lock down loose objects and avoid flooded roads and drains.

"I thought it was going to go around us, but it's probably going to go through us," Tiwi Islands man Gawin Tipiloura told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

"I don't think we've experienced something [like this] for a long time. Looks like we are going to get hit."

It comes after Cyclone Debbie made landfall as a category four system in Queensland two weeks ago, causing flooding that killed at least six people.