Cyclone Fina is expected to pass just north of Darwin, bringing heavy rain and gale-force winds. Photo: Neve Brissenden/AAP PHOTOS

Destructive wind gusts are hammering remote communities in the Top End, with tropical cyclone Fina strengthening as it nears major population centres.

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Fina passed over the Cobourg Peninsula overnight and into the Van Diemen Gulf on Saturday, moving slowly to track just north of the Northern Territory capital, Darwin.

Earlier in the morning, the Bureau of Meteorology said the system had been upgraded to category three.

A cyclone warning zone was in plac

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