Tropical Cyclone Oma is moving away from Vanuatu and could head towards Australian waters next week.

Cyclone Oma has lingered to west of Vanuatu during the last three days, causing heavy rain, flooding, damaging to destructive winds and dangerous seas. These conditions are expected to continue in some northern parts of the country during the next 12 to 24 hours, before the system moves away towards the southwest this weekend.

Image: Tropical Cyclone Oma to the northwest of Vanuatu on Thursday, February 14th. Image: NASA Aqua/MODIS

According to the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-Hazards Department and the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre, Oma is expected to gain strength during the next few days. The system could pass to the north of New Caledonia early next week as a category three severe tropical cyclone. If Oma is close enough to New Caledonia, flooding and wind damage could affect northern parts of the country.

A number of computer models indicate that Oma could continue moving towards the southwest during the first half of next week, which may allow the system to enter Australia's area of responsibility.

If this happens, Tropical Cyclone Oma will keep its original name, as the Bureau of Meteorology usually only assigns names to new systems that reach cyclone strength in Australian waters.

It's too early to know whether or not Tropical Cyclone Oma, or its remnants, will have any direct impact on mainland Australia. It's worth keeping an eye on this system next week if you live in eastern Australia.