WHILE the skies are set to clear over the coming days, the floods that have swamped southeast Queensland and northern NSW will continue for several days yet as heavy volumes of water work through river systems.

A line of storms swept through the already drenched southeast of Queensland yesterday afternoon, dumping heavy falls on the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and the waterlogged Gold Coast.

But apart from a few thunderstorms, the sun is expected to reappear for the rest of the week.

Meanwhile, the cause of all the rain and wild seas — a low pressure system that sat off the Queensland coast for more than a week — has dissolved.

Green Pigeon, a settlement west of Murwillumbah in northern NSW, received the heaviest falls, 616mm in less than a week — more than double Adelaide’s average annual rainfall.

The floods on the Richmond River, which isolated the NSW town of Coraki yesterday, were expected to peak at 6.9m last night.

In NSW, flood warnings are current for the Richmond, Wilsons, Clarence and Bellingen rivers. In Queensland there are flood warnings for the Logan, Albert, Coomera and Nerang rivers.

Don White of consultancy firm Weatherwatch said there would be a few thunderstorms over northern NSW and southeast Queensland during the early part of this week.

In the far north of the country, a tropical low, the remains of cyclone Helen, crossed the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Bureau of Meteorology said the low posed a threat to coastal communities, including Thursday Island.

There were fears last night it could redevelop into a category one cyclone. Floods are still threatening Katherine in the Northern Territory.