Christmas Island is on red alert as a category one tropical cyclone heads towards it.

Tropical Cyclone Gillian is about 140 kilometres north-east of Christmas Island and moving west at 20 kilometres per hour.

Gale force winds are expected to develop this morning and may continue into Sunday, as the cyclone passes north of the island and then heads west.

Linda Paterson from the Bureau of Meteorology says it may intensify into a category two system.

"Conditions though are good for it to intensify so we do expect it to reach a category two system just west of the island, but we don't expect it to intensify into a category three system until it's further away from the island, so they should be at least spared that," she said.

"There is a risk of destructive wind gusts during Saturday on the island, if it doesn't move as fast as we've forecast or it intensifies a bit quicker than we expect, so residents should be prepared that it may reach a category two system while it's still quite close to the island."

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Christmas Island residents told to prepare for Tropical Cyclone Gillian