Cyclone Winston continues to track towards Fiji's southern Lau group

Fiji's Southern Lau group is expected to experience its second category three cyclone of the year by Tuesday.

In the first week of January Cyclone Ula crossed the Lau group causing minor damage.

The Director of Meteorology said Cyclone Winston, lying to the south, was expected to turn towards Fiji waters after initially tracking southeast away from Vanuatu.

It is currently about 560 kilometres southwest of Ono-i-Lau and 630 kilometres south of Kadavu.

Ravind Kumar said by Tuesday the outer islands in Lau should feel the brunt of the Category Three severe cyclone, which was packing winds gusting up to 220 kilometres an hour.

"We expect it to be by midday Tuesday to be just 370 kilometres east-southeast of Kadavu island and about 30 kilometres southwest of Ono-i-Lau island which means to say it will be very close to Ono-i-lau island by midday Tuesday."

Ravind Kumar said Cyclone Winston was expected to maintain its strength as a category three storm.