Tropical Cyclone Winston Category 2 was located over the Southern Lau group at 3am this morning.

Fiji Meteorology weather forecaster Amit Singh says TC Winston was around 90km East North East of Ono-i-Lau or about 270km South South East of Lakeba.

The cyclone continues to move in a north east direction in a speed of 25km per hour and is expected to move out of the Fiji group by this evening.

There’s a strong wind warning in force for Vatoa, fulaga, Ogea but is now cancelled for Ono-I-Lau.

However, gale warning still remains for Ono-i-Lau, Kabara, Namuka, Komo, Moce and Oneata including Lakeba but expected to be cancelled later this afternoon.

The strong wind warning in place for Kadavu and nearby smaller islands and the Southern Viti Levu has been cancelled but remains in force for the rest of the Lau group and the Lomaiviti group.

We expect these winds to start easing gradually and the strong warning is also expected to be cancelled into the next three to six hours.

“The rain will start to ease and has already eased in most parts of Fiji but it will be more occasional now and sunshine will be seen again today in most places. So expect fine weather from tonight and we expect a break for two days we expect the weather to deteriorate again from Friday onwards as we expect this cyclone to turn and return towards the Lau group in the weekend.”

Singh says that by this evening and into the night TC Winston will be further away from Fiji and moving towards Tonga.

Meanwhile, residents from Lau say they experienced strong winds last night but have calmed down this morning.

Tevita Cavu, an Ono-i-Lau resident told FBC News there have been no reports of damage to their properties however vegetation has been affected due to the very strong winds.

Reapi Tawatau from Vatoa village says they’re thankful the winds have died down and look forward to fine weather later today.

No reports of damage to property has also been recorded from Vatoa.