A weekend of wild weather has drenched large swathes of Australia as most states brace for severe thunderstorms, strong winds and flash flooding.
Six states and territories are on weather watch with storms forecast for Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia which are also set to develop across NSW and the ACT.
Intense and heavy rain blanketed larges swathes of Queensland on Sunday with the Bureau of Meteorology issuing flood watches for the south-east regions and surrounding catchments.
Wild weather havoc stretched right down Australia east coast, with heavy downpours causing washouts on day one of the Australian Open tennis grand slam in Melbourne as players and spectators ducked for cover.
Storms will likely bring heavy, locally intense rainfall to parts of the North West Coast and Central Plateau areas of Tasmania, lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding through Sunday afternoon.
Winds of almost 100km/h were recorded at East Sale Airport on Sunday afternoon.
In Queensland’s south-east, minor flood warnings are in place for the Bremer River and Warrill Creek, Burrum River and Mary River, while a flood warning has been issued for the Logan River.
A heavy downpour refused the dampen spirits at the Australian Open on Sunday
Larges swathes Australia’s east coast from Far North Queensland right down to Tasmania will cop another soaking on Monday
Wind gusts of 106km/h were observed at Hughenden on Sunday afternoon.
Residents took to social media to post videos of flooding across roads and in the centre of towns in the South Burnett region.
‘We’ve got broad risks of severe thunderstorms stretching all the way from Townsville down to Brisbane,’ senior meteorologist Angus Hines told AAP.
‘Another very active day likely to bring some further weather impact, flash flooding, road closures, possible damage to trees, property, crops, as well as potential for power outages.’
Mr Hines said while the central Queensland coast had the highest flood risk, the risk for all other regions should not be downplayed.
‘Flash flooding would happen very quickly if further rainfall fell in those places because of how wet it has been – the ground can’t really soak up a lot more rain,’ he said.
The bureau forecasts showers and storms to continue into the week, and although the intensity is expected to come down a couple of notches, severe weather remains a risk into Wednesday.
Queensland has copped the brunt of the wild weather in recent days. Pictured is a car driving through large puddles as a result of heavy rainfall in Brisbane on Saturday
Perth
Monday: Partly cloudy.Min19 Max29
Tuesday: Cloud clearing.Min18 Max26
Wednesday: Sunny. Min15 Max29
Thursday: Sunny. Min 19 Max38
Adelaide
Monday: Sunny. Min19 Max31
Tuesday: Sunny. Min17 Max32
Wednesday: Possible shower.Min19 Max26
Thursday: Partly cloudy. Min15 Max25
Melbourne
Monday: Partly cloudy. Min19 Max27
Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Min17 Max28
Wednesday: Shower or two. Min19 Max28
Thursday: Shower or two. Min15 Max22
Hobart
Monday: Possible shower.Min17Max22
Tuesday: Cloudy. Min15 Max21
Wednesday: Showers increasing. Min15 Max25
Thursday: Possible shower. Min15 Max23
Canberra
Monday: Possible storm. Min14 Max31
Tuesday: Possible shower or storm. Min15 Max31
Wednesday: Showers. Possible storm. Min15 Max33
Thursday: Possible shower. Min15 Max26
Spectators were seen ducking for cover on day one of Australian Open in Melbourne
Sydney
Monday: Partly cloudy. Min21 Max30
Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Min21 Max29
Wednesday: Shower or two. Possible storm. Min22 Max31
Thursday: Shower or two. Min21 Max26
Brisbane
Monday: Shower or two. Possible storm. Min21 Max29
Tuesday: Possible shower.Min21 Max31
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Min22 Max31
Thursday: Shower or two. Min22 Max 33
