Queensland

Queensland weather: Severe storms on the way as heatwave takes hold

Summer's wild start is set to continue after the Bureau of Meteorology warned of severe thunderstorms to hit Brisbane and surrounding areas late on Saturday afternoon.

The bureau detected dangerous thunderstorms near Beaudesert, west of the Gold Coast at 4.25pm.

Destructive winds, heavy rainfall, potential flash flooding and very large hailstones are all possible.

They are forecast to affect Beenleigh, Logan City, Woodridge, Mount Cotton, Sunnybank Hills and Archerfield by 4:55 pm as well as Brisbane CBD, Cleveland, Manly, Wynnum and Brisbane Airport by 5:25 pm.

Summer got off to a wild start this week, as Queensland saw hail the size of tennis balls, temperatures in the mid-forties, power outages and people being struck by falling trees as well as lightning.

Gold Coast beaches were also closed by Surf Life Saving Queensland about 4pm on Saturday as the storms rolled towards the south-east.

Advertisement

The forecast wet weather will bring much-needed relief to areas of Queensland which sweltered through top temperatures of 44 degrees.

Roma, 350 kilometres west of Toowoomba, recorded 44.4 degrees while Birdsville, near the Northern Territory and South Australian border, reached 44.8.

The sticky conditions come after five people were hospitalised up until Friday due to the heat, with a boy struck by a falling tree and a woman struck by lightning

Thursday saw hail the size of tennis balls fall in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, as wild weather lashed the State.

Don't miss important news stories. Like us on Facebook.

Advertisement